A Mistake Gone Right
by Realta D
Summary: Gaara was a woman, and no one but her knew that secret. No one... at least until Kankurou decided she needed to 'loosen up a little' during Naruto's party, and she realized she wasn't a drunk of the responsible type. Genderbending! Crossdressing. Female Gaara. Romance. AU/Canon Divergence.
1. A Drunken One-Night Stand

**Author's Note:** This story has sexual scenes, which are going to be cut down from the version placed in this site. If you wish to read the complete work, please search for it by the story name on Archive of Our Own site.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: A Drunken One-Night Stand**

Gaara was twenty seven years old.

They had been at peace for about seven years now, with minor skirmishes here and there between the bigger nations with the smaller ones.

The greater nations had acquired such a stable peace, though, that the chuunin exams had become a somewhat important bonding event, instead of a source of worry about spilling village secrets.

The chuunin exams happened every year, each year it was held in one of the five greater villages with one of the Kages surveying it. This year, it had been in Konoha, and Gaara, of course, had attended it two months ago.

That was why she was curious when she got a letter from Naruto, asking her to visit him as soon as she could, and warn him when she could do it.

Considering she had visited him not long ago, she assumed Naruto had important news to share. Naruto and Hinata had been in a relationship, and she couldn't help but wonder if he wanted to announce their wedding, or something of the kind.

A small smile curved her lips, though she felt a little jealousy if she was honest with herself. Naruto was one of the only men she trusted enough to be intimate with, and though she never even considered making a serious move on him, she had fantasized very often about it. It would feel wrong to continue doing so once he was married...

But that was quite a selfish thought. She was happy that he had found his happiness with someone – he deserved it. Gaara wanted to be there to commemorate with him. That was why she sent her friend a missive telling him she would visit him in two weeks time.

* * *

She had expected to be in Konoha to hear about Naruto's future marriage. That was why it shocked her when she heard rumors that Hinata was in a relationship with Kakashi Hatake, through the gossip of perverted chuunins.

It worried her. Despite the brief spike of jealousy she had felt, hearing about her friend's possible loss of relationship made her feel grief for him. She had gone straight to Naruto's place after greeting the sixth Hokage – Kakashi Hatake himself.

She was relieved when she saw his friend looked beyond happy – not at all like someone who had just suffered the breaking of a romantic relationship.

"Gaara! You came!" Naruto greeted her with an overeager hug. Gaara was used to it, so she barely flinched, and even managed to pat his back a little awkwardly.

"Of course I did. From your missive, it sounded like you had something important to say." she agreed. Her friend beamed at him.

"Yes! Oh, yes! But we will leave that for the party tomorrow! How have you been doing?" Naruto pulled her into his home, and Gaara silently moved to sit on his couch.

She was immediately alert when she realized that one of the photos Naruto had on his bookshelf, in which he had been kissing Hinata on the lips, had been replaced by a photo taken with them in a far more platonic pose.

She ignored her friend's babbling as she walked up to it and held the frame up, scrutinizing the photo. She noticed it as soon as her friend went silent, and turned wordlessly towards him.

"Oh... I guess there's a reason you're considered a genius, uh?" he asked with a faint grin. Gaara's eyes narrowed. She said nothing, but after a stretch of silence, Naruto answered her unasked question. "Yeah, we aren't together anymore." he took the photo frame and placed it back onto the dresser fondly.

Several alarm bells rang on her mind as she stared at her friend. For one, Naruto seemed far more relaxed telling her about his failed relationship than she would have assumed he would be. He didn't look all that sad, just a hint of melancholy to the cast of his eyes. "I heard rumors..." she let her suspicion hang unsaid in the air.

The melancholy was gone, and Naruto grinned impishly. His expression looked sincere. "She's with Kakashi, yup. They're probably going to announce it officially soon, since some gossiper found out." Gaara wasn't sure how to react to that.

She turned towards her friend with a frown. Confused. "You don't look heartbroken about your break up..." she noted quietly. This time, his smile was sad.

"Well, no. We just... didn't work out. We broke it off over a year ago." Gaara looked alarmed at her friend. Naruto hadn't said anything. He raised a hand, a gesture to stop her from voicing any objection. "I didn't tell you, nor anyone else, because I was helping Hinata." he pursed his lips, looking annoyed. "If she had seemed to be single and available again, those annoying old men of her clan would try to marry her off to some creepy rich guy she never met in her life."

"Oh." That was noble of him. That sounded just like Naruto, actually. Her eyes softened as she watched her friend. "But you haven't found anyone else?"

The melancholy was back. Naruto offered her a weak smile. "I'm not really cut out for this relationship stuff." he shrugged. Before Gaara could say anything he shook his head and once again looked excited. "It doesn't matter, at all! I have great news, actually, but I want you to find out tomorrow, so I'm not telling now! But! Let's talk about more cheerful things, instead."

She allowed her friend to distract her as they both caught up to the more important happenings of each other's lives. She didn't insist on Naruto's relationship status, though it saddened her.

The next day, she was punctual to Naruto's party. It was a much bigger party than she had expected. There were many ninjas who she only knew in passing, but they were all Naruto's friends.

She spent a few hours of the evening talking with Rock Lee – he looked quite fine, dressed in black trousers with a forest green sweater. He had grown up into a handsome man. As the hours passed and Kankurou kept replacing full glasses of wine in her hand, she noticed more and more just how fine he had grown to look like.

At some point, Naruto had stopped the band that was playing and took the microphone from the singer's hand. "Hey, guys! There's something I have wanted to tell you, and I have made all of you wait long enough! So, I'll tell you now."

Naruto took a deep breath, then he beamed at them. "Six months from now, after the ceremony... I'll be officially the Seventh Hokage." he announced loudly. Gaara's eyes widened.

As several people started screaming and cheering loudly, she felt a big smile curve her lips. She caught Naruto's eyes, and her friend seemed taken aback for a moment, but then he grinned and waved at her. She saluted him with her wine glass.

"Hah! I can't believe he made it!" Kankurou announced by her side, though her brother sounded cheerful rather than disbelieving. Gaara raised an eyebrow when her brother changed the glass from her hands once again, and glanced at the oddly colored drink she had been given – definitely not wine.

She took a sip, and nearly spit it out. There was so much alcohol in the drink that it burned her mouth. "Are you trying to get me drunk?" she looked up at her brother, narrowing her eyes. Kankurou laughed merrily.

"As if! You're never going to get drunk, you burn the stuff out like a machine. I just thought you wanted to try something new – knock it back at once." he illustrated his words with one of the glasses he had in his hand with the same drink. He blinked and shook his head. "Man! Naruto brought out some good stuff! I wonder if Tsunade gave this to him."

Gaara knew she shouldn't drink, because she was already far too tipsy for her peace of mind. But, she was still curious. Specially when Tsunade appeared by them, and Kankurou started to discuss alcohol with her as she confirmed she had provided Naruto with some of the bottles.

Gaara knocked back the glass and nearly choked on the drink as it burned her throat all the way down. Her eyes were still watering as Tsunade placed another full glass with something else on her hand, with a cheerful, "Try this one!"

By the time Kankurou and Tsunade had gone, and Naruto was near her, she was feeling a little out of balance. "So, how do you like my news?" he wondered cheerfully.

"You, of all people, deserve this. Congratulations." she told him, heartfelt. Naruto looked surprised for some reason, but Gaara didn't think to ask what surprised him. She was trying hard not to stare at the three open buttons on his shirt, and the enticing golden skin they were showcasing.

In fact, all of her mental processes were busy trying desperately to stop her mind from picturing Naruto undressed, having plenty of fodder to work with from memories of her wet dreams. Naruto blinked at her. "Gaara, are you okay?"

She was surprised at the question. "Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" she wondered, puzzled. It wasn't like anyone could read past her masks, so she wasn't worried about revealing her inner naughty fantasies. Naruto hesitated. Before he composed himself enough to tell her what he thought was wrong, Tsunade came and cheerfully dragged Naruto away, while his brother arrived with two girls at his arms, introducing them to Gaara.

Gaara kept herself from sighing and politely talked with the girls Kankurou was no doubt trying to pair her up with. Good thing she was an heterosexual female, otherwise she would have already ran away with one of them – she was feeling unusually aroused, and they were coming onto her very hard.

She refused another drink Kankurou tried to push onto her, but when he offered her wine once again, she accepted it easily. She knew how many glasses of wine and sake she could drink before she should stop, she didn't know much about the other spirit she had tried. She made a note to cut out on the wine soon, just in case that one had been too strong for her to take.

* * *

The party went well into the night.

By three in the morning, Gaara was one of the few people still there. Her brother had long ago sneaked out with two of the girls he had been trying to push onto Gaara. She saw Temari sneaking away with Shikamaru at one point, too.

Gaara felt she was way beyond tipsy by now – something quite rare, Tsunade's alcohol had really been strong indeed. But Naruto... Naruto was long past plastered. The fact he was Kurama's host was likely the only reason that he still hadn't lost the contents of his stomach by the looks of it.

Sakura had been trying to convince him to go home, amidst throwing glares to her laughing teacher who had likely been partially at fault for getting Naruto so wasted. But every time she came close to Naruto in order to manhandle him into obeying her, he tried to slip his hand a bit too low on her waist. She looked like she was trying to keep herself from sobering him up with a chakra enhanced smack on the face – killing her Kage because he was too smashed to dodge her punch wouldn't go well on the records of a responsible medic-nin.

She didn't know why she didn't keep herself from voicing aloud her brilliant idea, specially because she was very aware she wanted nothing more than to undress Naruto to put him to bed, and run her fingers all over his very fine muscles. Probably, it was due to the alcohol in her system. "I'll take him home, Sakura." she told her quietly.

Sakura turned to her and eyed her up and down, her eyes narrowed. After a few seconds, she seemed satisfied with something – probably the fact Gaara didn't look plastered – and nodded once. "Thank you, Gaara. That would be very helpful!" she said with a sigh.

So she helped her friend to his feet, and hauled him home with the help of her sand, ignoring all his babbling, which she could barely understand.

"Here you go, safely delivered." she sighed as she locked the door behind them. She should probably make them a sobering tea before leaving Naruto on his own.

She froze when Naruto walked so close behind her that her body was pressed against the door by his very warm body. His warm, alcohol laden breath caressed her ear as he whispered.

"Dude... Have I ever told you that you have hips like a chick's?" Gaara gasped as Naruto placed a hand on her hip, then slid it down until it was cupping her backside. "A really hot chick's."

She very nearly squeaked when Naruto pressed closer to her, and she felt his very clear erection rub against the back of her thigh. "So hot..." he murmured.

Her heart was beating in her throat as Naruto rubbed himself against her. She should push him away, she really should. But... She really didn't want to.

She shoved him away from her with her sand, and before Naruto could lose his balance, she turned around and grabbed him by the shoulders, planting a messy and inexperienced kiss against his lips. She felt the alcohol on his tongue as he took control and deepened the kiss, once again pressing her body against the door with his, but this time his erection was pressing right between her legs.

Her reason took a leave of absence from her brain right then.

* * *

She felt so comfortable and warm.

She was waking up, and it was one of the very few times she slept so well that she woke up feeling good. So good.

She didn't want to move. She kept her eyes closed, enjoying the wonderful feeling for as long as she could.

At least until she heard someone else mumble by her side. She froze, and her eyes instantly snapped open to stare at Naruto's unshaven face.

The memories of last night came back to her like a hammer to the head.

She had had sex with Naruto. She had shown Naruto her naked, very female body.

Oh, it had been good. So damn good that put all of her wet dreams to shame. But the greater issue was now... Naruto knew she was a woman.

She tried to get away from his arms without alerting him, and sighed in relief when she managed to. Quickly scouring the room, she found her chest bandages and wrapped her breasts up so tightly they hurt, then quickly shrugged on her shirt. She was tugging on her pants without underwear when she heard a mumble from behind her that made her freeze.

"...Gaara?" She quickly finished pulling her pants up and zipping them closed to hide the fact she didn't have a penis. If she was lucky enough, Naruto would have alcohol driven amnesia this morning. "Oh, god!" her friend squeaked, and when she turned around, he was trying to hide his naked body with a sheet as he stared at her in shock. "Oh, god, we didn't... Did we...?"

She licked her dry lips, and nodded slowly. Naruto flinched. "Naruto..."

"I-I'm sorry! It's... I was really drunk last night, but I don't swing that way, Gaara! I mean... I really, really like women, so... Sorry!" Gaara could have cried in relief as the meaning of Naruto's words sank in.

Naruto had forgotten.

A breathless, relieved laughter escaped her lips, making Naruto look up cautiously. "I'm straight too, Naruto." not a lie, technically, even if it didn't keep her from thinking Naruto was a very fine specimen of man that she would love to do every day. Even now that she was starting to feel the pain from last night's activities, she still wanted to do him again. "Don't worry about it. We were both out of our minds last night." she finished with a small smile.

Naruto sighed in relief, the blanket dropping from his hands. "Man..." then, he started to laugh loudly, relieved.

Gaara nearly choked when Naruto stood up, and her eyes were attracted like magnets to his morning wood. She quickly looked away before he caught her staring. She looked up when Naruto slapped her shoulder.

"They say that a guy is your best friend only if you got plastered together and then went on to do something really crazy together. I guess we can officially call each other best friends now." he remarked with a small, cheerful grin, his cheeks red in embarrassment. "No awkwardness?" he wondered, hopefully.

"None on my side, Naruto." she reassured her friend. Naruto beamed at her. Gaara's eyes nearly popped out of her head when Naruto leaned in and chastely kissed her lips.

"You're the first and will be the last man to tumble the sheets with me, Gaara. I'll never forget that." Naruto grinned, slapped his shoulder again. "I'm really not gay, but the little of last night that I remember was pretty fun."

Gaara felt her cheeks become hot as she stared at her friend at a loss of words.

"You can use my shower first. You probably need a shower more than I do. I'll whip up something we can eat!" Naruto announced, slipping in Gaara's boxers. Gaara decided not to point that out at all, and accepted the offer of a shower, instead.

She thanked all deities watching over her that spending time with Naruto really wasn't awkward after that. If anything, they seemed to be closer friends than before, as Naruto was acting a lot more open with her. He was really being serious when he told her he considered her one of his best friends now.

She felt a pleased flush on her cheeks at the notion. She liked that, being Naruto's best friend.

* * *

By the time she arrived in her guest quarters, the sun was well on its way to setting. Both her siblings were waiting for her. Temari had a little worried frown on her lips, but Kankurou was grinning like a cheshire cat.

"Had a good night, Gaara?" Kankurou asked cheerfully. She glared at her brother.

"I can't believe you got me drunk to force me into someone's bed, Kankurou." she turned on him, hissing. Kankurou looked taken aback. Temari eyed her brother with narrowed eyes.

"I was just trying to loosen you up a bit! You had a good night, didn't you?" he wondered again.

"I slept with Naruto." she told him coldly. Both her siblings gaped at her. "You're lucky he took it well when we woke up naked next to each other, otherwise I would have been very unhappy with you." she stared him down, eyes narrowed. Kankurou paled and gulped, apparently properly cowed by her veiled threat. Good.

What made her angry was not the fact that Kankurou had acted like a child and messed with her good judgment that way. What was really getting on her nerves was the fact she wasn't on any sort of birth control, and Naruto hadn't used condoms.

She had bought the day after pill, then she had to buy another one because the first made her so sick she threw it back up. She still felt sick – she could feel the pill churning inside her stomach, but at least it hadn't come back up again. Feeling sick made her very moody, though.

"You and Naruto... Are you gay?" Kankurou wondered, eyes wide. Gaara glared at her brother.

"No. Neither is he. That's exactly the problem." she pointed out. "I have a headache, I'm going to lie down a little." she announced, then left the room.

"Gaara is gay." she heard her brother whisper incredulously, but with certainty in his voice. Their sister snorted softly, the way she did whenever Kankurou found out something everyone else knew.

Which was really interesting... because Gaara hadn't known she gave the others the impression she was attracted to men. She would have to do something about it, if her councilors found out about this, she would no doubt be forced into marrying another woman in a blink of an eye, for whatever political reason they could connive.

Gaara couldn't allow herself to get caught in this kind of situation. If anyone from Suna found out she was a woman and pretending to be a man all along, she would be in very deep waters. Some of her lies were illegal at best, and in the whole, they might get her prosecuted with a death sentence, since she was considered a S-rank dangerous ninja.

Thinking about this only made her headache worse, so she lied down and tried to clear her mind in meditation. With discipline, she thankfully managed to.

At least until she was jolted awake by an awful feeling on her stomach. She jumped out of the bed and rushed to the toilet, losing all the contents of her stomach into the sink.

She looked herself on the mirror worriedly as she shakily washed her mouth. She didn't have experience with contraceptives, maybe the hormones were messing with her. Hopefully she had kept the last pill inside her stomach for long enough for it to be effective. She would buy another one tomorrow, just in case.

* * *

He couldn't stop thinking about his redheaded friend.

Naruto groaned and buried his face in his hands.

It had started with a dream. His subconscious mind had caught the few moments he remembered of their drunk night together and spun them far out of control, filling the gaps with impossible details. The memories were so distorted, in fact, that Gaara was a woman in his dreams. What a woman she was.

"Stop, stop, stop." he whimpered, rubbing his face vigorously, as if he could rub the thoughts off with his bare hands.

The sexy woman with Gaara's face wouldn't leave his mind. It was getting out of hand. Maybe it was time he found himself another girlfriend – or a friend with benefits. It had been way too long since he last gotten laid if he was obsessing over his male friend like that.

"I see you're distracted from work." he nearly died from fright when he heard Kakashi's voice, and looked up with wide eyes to see his former sensei and current Hokage watching him askance. Kakashi then smirked. "Sloppy for a Hokage. I wonder if I should really give you the title."

He scoffed and glared at his sensei. "If you only came here to tease me..." he began, but trailed off at the serious look on Kakashi's face. A small amount of relief filled him – his former teacher rarely looked that serious. Whenever he did, it meant they had work to do.

Naruto was in desperate need for work. If it was mind numbing, boring work, even better – he needed something to purge those damn hot images of Gaara his mind was creating far out of his brain.


	2. Denial and Lies

**Author's Notes:** Wow, I was really not expecting all the responses I got to this fic. I really thank all of you who have bookmarked it, or let me know you liked it! I hope the next chapters will be up to your expectations. I plan for this story to have about 50,000 words, which means it will have about ten to fourteen chapters at the size I'm currently making them. I'm not sure if I will update again this month, owning to the holidays, but I intend to publish a chapter per week after that.

This story is mainly about how Naruto and Gaara get together, but from this chapter on you might notice there's a thicker plot in the background. That will be the main plot of the sequel, and it will remain unresolved for now. For that plot, and a few other details you will notice throughout the text, I'm going to place a warning for AU/Canon divergence, because several things will not be compliant to canon from now own.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 2: _Denial and Lies_**

"Kazekage-sama." she peered up when her secretary bowed at her, instead of going about his work in silence as he often did. "An urgent correspondence from the Hokage just arrived." her brows scrunched in worry. The yellow seal keeping the scroll closed didn't really bode well.

"Thank you, Haruka." she thanked the man, accepting the scroll.

"Kazekage-sama..." she looked up when he hesitated. "You don't look so well. You should take a break. Maybe go home for lunch today." Gaara kept herself from sighing – instead, she merely nodded. She was getting tired of hearing that off her ninjas this week.

"Very well." she said in a dismissive tone, then turned to the scroll in her hands and quickly read it over.

The words on the scroll befuddled her.

Apparently, Kakashi had intelligence on remaining ninjas of the Uzushio hidden village. She had been hearing of them for a while now, but since Suna held little to no interest on that village, she hadn't spent the resources to monitor the ninjas.

Konoha, on other hand, had several reasons to keep tabs on their former allies. What confused her was that the Hokage's men were getting reports of hostile behavior between the remnants of Uzushio's forces and Konoha.

The news wouldn't be alarming if it wasn't Uzushio they were talking about. Ninjas from Uzushio once held several secrets on sealing arts, though, and seals created some of the most powerful jutsus in existence. It wasn't hard to take a whole village down on surprise with several well placed seals, even if you only had a small number of ninjas within your force.

So this hostility had the sixth Hokage worried.

Gaara wondered what Naruto thought of all this. Naruto was born and raised in Konoha, but the Uzumaki Clan once held a very important role on the destroyed Uzushio hidden village. Were these ninjas interested in her friend at all?

Gaara closed her eyes and placed her cold fingers against her temple. Her head was throbbing in pain. She had been suffering headaches often lately – far too often – though she couldn't pinpoint what exactly was causing her stress enough to feel this pain. A little of everything, probably. But the mere thought of possible war made her ears ring from the pain.

She tensed when she felt a presence on the corridor, but relaxed when Haruka walked into the room. "Kazekage-sama." the man bowed again, then walked up to the desk. Gaara was surprised when he placed a tall glass of cooled water in front of her. "You should drink more water." he said quietly.

"...Thank you, Haruka. I'm going to write the Hokage a reply, please return in ten minutes to take it." the man bowed respectfully, then left the room.

Gaara glanced at the glass of water warily. She wasn't used to taking food from other people, she was always too suspicious of getting poisoned. It was one of the only ways to kill her without a fierce battle, as her shield protected her from physical harm most of the time, and her resistance to poison had greatly lowered after she lost Shukaku.

If it was any other morsel of food, she would feel no guilt throwing it away, but clean water...

She took the glass and sniffed at it. If there was poison in the glass, it didn't have an odor. She touched the liquid with the tip of her tongue and felt no taste, either. Her exploration of the water was cut short by a brief knock, and then her brother walked in. She set the glass down and pushed it towards him.

"Do you want some base for your poisons?" she wondered quietly. Her brother raised an eyebrow at her.

"I saw Haruka pour the water. It's not poisoned, nor anything." she sighed, then took the glass and drank it in one go. She did feel very thirsty. "Temari told him to give you water, because you're dehydrated." her brother continued. Gaara licked her lips.

"I've been drinking the same amount I always do." she told him with a small shake of her head. It was enough for her, she didn't need anymore.

"Maybe you need more now. You've been stressed, and you don't look well." Kankurou pointed out, walking up to her and placing his fingers on her chin in order to examine her face closely. "Not well at all."

"Fine. I'll drink more water." she murmured, pulling away from her brother. She didn't intend to do anything of the sort. She was stressed, not dehydrated. "Was there anything you needed?"

Her brother scrutinized her for a moment, but soon he got down to business.

* * *

The rest of the day went on as normal. She was feeling very tired, so she choose to sleep instead of merely meditating that night.

She slept like a log.

She was surprised when she woke up the next morning, feeling her body heavy and sore, she rarely slept as deeply as that. The last time she had slept that deeply, it had been two months ago, when she had slept within Naruto's embrace.

A wave of nausea washed over her at the mere recollection.

Okay... So no thinking about Naruto and her slip up, which thankfully had held no bad consequences. Naruto didn't remember that night.

Her nausea only mounted.

She took deep breaths, trying to stop herself from thinking. For some reason, thinking of her friend was stressing her, so she pushed away the thoughts.

But doing so didn't help at all. She felt worse and worse as the time passed, struggling to keep inside her stomach whatever food was still there.

"Gaara? Are you still asleep?" she peered up when she heard her sister's soft voice. She silently shook her head, because she couldn't open her mouth. Temari looked at her in concern. "You've been asleep for nearly nine hours."

That startled Gaara. She never slept more than six hours. Her body just couldn't do it – usually she only slept four to five hours, too, very rarely she would sleep six.

She turned to glance at the clock, and indeed, it was seven in the morning. She had laid down at ten last night.

Another wave of nausea hit her, and this time, she couldn't hold it back. She struggled to her feet and rushed towards the bathroom, grasping the sink as she lost the contents of her stomach inside the bowl.

"Gaara!" Temari rushed after her. She felt her face heat up in embarrassment as her sister watched her heave for several moments, then helped her stand when she started to shake from the mere effort of supporting her weight. "Damn." her sister cursed.

"Stress." she mumbled quietly, though her mind was scrutinizing her symptoms. Had she caught some bug? She rarely did get sick, she had a good immune system even without Shukaku.

She didn't need to think too long, though, because her sister seemed to know exactly what was wrong with her. "You're dehydrated, Gaara." she said sharply, looking annoyed. "I told you yesterday."

"I've been drinking enough..." she began, but her sister cut her.

"You're exhausted, suffering headaches, shaking, dizzy, nauseated. What are those symptoms of?" she snapped, eyes narrowed.

Every Suna shinobi was taught to recognize symptoms of dehydration. When she put everything plainly like that, Gaara couldn't really argue. Her sister was right.

When she said nothing, Temari continued. "I'm going to get you something to eat, and specially drink. Don't leave your bed." she admonished, helping her to bed again. Gaara was tired, so she didn't argue.

But when Temari returned twenty minutes later with food, her stomach revolted again.

Temari frowned, watching her as she returned from the bathroom, walking shakily. "If you're unable to eat, we will need to take you to the hospital." she commented, concerned.

Gaara froze at her words. Being taken to the hospital because of dehydration would be extremely embarrassing, specially considering she was the Kazekage. It wasn't like she was standing post under the harsh beat of the sun outside every day, she would have had to be careless to get that bad.

"I can eat." she ground out, then gingerly took one of the crackers Temari had brought her.

Controlling her nausea required an effort worthy of the effort she once spent to control Shukaku.

"You men and your pride." Temari scoffed after several minutes of watching her eat small bite by bite, controlling her body's urges to keep her stomach empty.

Gaara eyed her sister speculatively. Temari had pride to spare, herself. It had nothing to do with gender. She didn't bother saying anything, though, because the last thing she needed at the moment was to antagonize her sister. Temari was already angry enough with her.

* * *

Recovering from dehydration was no easy matter.

It took over a month of drinking nearly double her normal amount of water, and taking it easy in general. It annoyed her that she was also throwing up so often, wasting the water Temari kept pushing her to drink. She had been so low on water that her periods hadn't even been coming. In fact, she missed several periods during the time she was sick. It was a good thing, because with how weak she felt, she would likely have passed out if she lost blood too, and her periods were always heavy.

Her body was greedily storing her water intake. She felt bloated. She had put on a little weight, and it wasn't hard to see it was due to water retention, and not overeating, as the 'fat' felt hard to the touch. Kankurou still liked teasing her about it.

It wasn't like she could even train and lose the weight. The one time she had trained and lost water through sweat, she had nearly passed out. Temari had been furious with her. That had been weeks ago.

She had stopped feeling nausea a month later. Even after she considered herself recovered and attempted to lessen her intake of water, Temari didn't give her a chance. She continued forcing her to drink more than she thought it was needed. At least she hadn't had a relapse, nearly two months after she had recovered. She was healthy enough now to have no problems going to watch Naruto's induction as Hokage in a month.

Something was nagging at the back of Gaara's mind, though. She felt something was bothering her every time after she showered, and had to painfully wrap her breasts tight against her chest. Her breasts hurt, as they always did, she wasn't sure what was making her pause.

But the nagging feeling never left her. That was why she froze when she heard Naruto's cheerful news over the phone.

"I... I'm sorry?" she stuttered, her mind frozen at his words.

"Hah! Hard do believe, isn't it? Sakura is pregnant! She won't tell me who is the dad, but I'm guessing it's Sai." Naruto repeated himself, and over the phone it sounded like he was grinning widely.

Gaara tuned her friend off as he continued to babble – her attention was instead on her own body. Ever so slowly, she lowered her hand towards her protruding stomach, cupping her palm against the somewhat hardened flesh. Her eyes widened in horror when she felt a strange feeling over her palm, one which echoed inside her. As if there was something moving against her skin from the inside. Everything she had been brushing aside for months suddenly clicked in her mind, and she felt like she was going to faint.

"Gaara? Hey, Gaara!" she started when Naruto raised his voice.

"Y-Yes?" she stuttered

"Are you okay? You sound disturbed by something." Naruto asked concerned, but then his tone became suspicious. There was a couple of seconds of silence, before Naruto gasped. "Oh... Oh! You're not the father, are you?" Naruto squeaked in utter disbelief. That shook Gaara.

"No! No. I... I have to go, Naruto, something happened. I'll call you in an hour." and she hung up on her friend.

She couldn't be pregnant!

She had taken the day after pill! Three of them, since she couldn't keep the first two in her stomach, and she wanted to be absolutely sure nothing would happen.

To ensure this wouldn't happen.

But now that Naruto had shattered her pitiful attempts at denial, she could feel it. She could feel a child moving within her. She had been feeling this for maybe a month now... Why hadn't she realized it before?

…She needed a pregnancy test.

She was so disturbed that she almost forgot to cover herself with an illusion before going to the pharmacy. She brought a pack with two tests and took both of them.

She didn't even actually need to wait three minutes for the test to be ready. As soon as she peed on each of the sticks, the 'pregnant!' sign immediately lit up, with a small smiley face at the side that certainly didn't reflect Gaara's mood.

She stared in horror at both positive tests she was gripping tightly between her fingers.

"Gaara?" she jumped and nearly shrieked when her sister's voice took her by surprise from the other side of the door.

"Temari?" her voice was high pitched in a way that it hadn't been in a very long time. Her shock was making her careless.

"Is something wrong? I'm opening the door." Gaara's eyes widened and, in her panic, her sand moved on its own to seal away the door as Temari pulled it open. "Gaara?!" she only sounded even more worried.

"I-I'm fine." she forced her voice to become deeper once again as she struggled to pull her pants up and zip them over her stomach. "Please don't walk in on me while I'm naked." She tried to create a excuse for her sand's panic-ridden reaction.

"What the hell is wrong, Gaara? Shikamaru called me to say you freaked out on Naruto when he talked about Sakura's pregnancy... Is there something you want to tell me?" she asked sharply, but her voice was deep with worry, even as it showed a hint of annoyance. She was always annoyed whenever either her or Kankurou tried to keep something from her.

Gaara swallowed thickly. Was there something she wanted to tell Temari? It had been five months since she had slept with Naruto. Was it even possible for her to have an abortion?

Did she want to have an abortion?

Could she keep hiding from everyone her gender with a child growing within her? Did she need Temari's help? She buried her face on her hands. Her sister had been attempting to talk to her, but she had tunned her out until her voice raised.

"Gaara! If you don't open this door this instant, I'm going to knock the wall down." she snapped angrily.

Gaara took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Panic was a completely useless feeling in these sorts of situations – it wouldn't help her at all. If she wanted to keep her secret, she would have to do damage control, right now.

Did she need Temari's help?

"Gaara!" her sister abruptly cut her shout off when the sand rained down, and she took an involuntary step back when Gaara stood face to face with her, their eyes at around the same height. "What's going on?" she demanded.

"I needed to use the toilet, very urgently. Is there a reason why you're acting like this?" she wondered quietly, her eyes narrowed on her sister. The pregnancy tests and their packages were hidden inside her sand, so when Temari glanced around the bathroom, there was nothing suspicious for her to see.

Her sister looked taken aback. "...That is... The way Shikamaru sounded, I thought you were hiding something..." her eyes narrowed. "Like an inter-village relationship." Gaara nearly flinched at her words.

She hit the nail on the head, insofar as Gaara could call an one-night stand a relationship. "I've never slept with Sakura Haruno." she told her firmly, honestly.

Temari's shoulders sagged, and she looked relieved. "That's great to hear. I don't need to tell you what a political disaster it would have been if you suddenly had a child with such an important head figure of Konoha, do I?" Gaara's lips pressed thin.

Sakura Haruno was important in Konoha, but the backlash of her carrying Gaara's baby would be nothing compared to what people would do when they found out their supposed male Kazekage was carrying the Hokage's baby.

She decided that moment that she didn't want Temari to know. She needed to deal with the child alone. She crossed her arms defensively over her bound chest.

"If you have nothing else on your mind, can I use the toilet in peace?" her words were a bit smart – uncharacteristically so. Temari flinched, then backed away.

"Call Naruto once you're done. He's worried about you." she glanced at her with a hint of worry as well, then turned around and walked away.

This time Gaara made sure the bathroom's door was locked behind her sister, before she sagged against the wall and let herself slide to the floor.

What was she going to do about this?

As her position shifted to a half lying position, she felt the baby move inside her again, and her throat closed as she moved her hands to feel the movement from the outside.

There was a living being inside her. She could feel it move...

She had given it life.

Gaara swallowed painfully as she squeezed her eyes shut. That life within her... She had helped conceive it. She had taken so many lives before – so many of them she couldn't even count each individual anymore. She couldn't even remember most of them.

This was the first time she was giving someone life.

She couldn't even bear the thought of taking it back. Abortion was not an option.

As she took a deep breath, the smell of salt filled her nostrils. A small, weak chuckle escaped her lips when she reached up and felt tears on her cheeks.

Tears.

They were her weakness and her strength. For so long, she had believed, just like her father, that emotions were a weakness. They were... But Naruto showed her they were also a strength. They were Naruto's strength, and Naruto was one of the strongest ninja she knew, and she knew no other ninja that loved others as deeply as Naruto did.

She was expecting Naruto's baby.

She covered her eyes as a sob escaped her lips. She didn't know what to do. No matter how rational she tried to be, there was nothing rational about this decision. The most rational choice should be to abort, but she would first kill herself before she even dared to think about taking the life of Naruto's child. A being that would no doubt earn Naruto's love by merely existing – because Naruto was the kind of person who selflessly loved his children, no matter what.

Just like her mother.

She thought shocked Gaara into opening her eyes, and she quickly righted her position again, leaning with her back straight against the wall.

Not going there. There were certain things that were best locked to the back of her mind, unless she was aiming to completely break down into a crying mess. Which, to be fair, she wasn't very far off achieving.

She couldn't even think of what she could do... She needed help. She closed her eyes and swallowed painfully. She needed Naruto's help... Naruto would help her. He would find a way to keep his child alive without completely destroying her life.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips. She was such an irresponsible idiot. As if Naruto could even... She tensed as an idea came to her.

Naruto. Naruto could take care of their child... She could leave it on his doorstep and...

She shuddered and shook her head strongly, violently rejecting the idea. There were too many problems with it, she would never ever leave an vulnerable baby alone inside a hidden village, even if only for a few seconds. Specially when it was the Hokage's child – so many things could go wrong.

Naruto needed to know. After he knew, maybe he could pretend the baby was left on his doorstep. Or maybe Gaara could pretend the baby was left with her, and take it into her family...

But Gaara would make an awful father. Naruto actually yearned for children, and he would make a much better father than Gaara could ever hope to be. Gaara was emotionally broken, and no matter how much she had tried to mend the pieces, she would never be whole in the way Naruto was. If they had to choose which parent to raise this baby, Naruto was by far the best option. The only viable option.

In short, Naruto needed to know.

She took a deep breath, then raised herself to her feet. She would call her friend now, and then she would try to rest a little. She was too shaken to keep working right now, and the people who worked closer to her knew she had been sick lately, so they would accept her excuse to have some rest.

* * *

"Naruto?" she asked quietly once the call connected.

"Gaara? Are you okay? You really worried..." Naruto began, but she cut him off.

"I'm fine. I had to go inside, it's raining buckets outside." she told him quietly, hoping her friend wasn't going to be dense today of all days. They had a code, which they had developed together a few years ago, but the two times Gaara tried to make use of it, she had to remind Naruto the code existed.

"Oh..." Naruto breathed in sharply. She wouldn't need to remind her friend this time. Good. "When..." she quickly cut him off.

"Naruto!" she snapped, her eyes narrowing. They had a code for a reason, it was to keep people from spying on their communications. Having him talk straight about it would render that completely useless.

"What? I just wanted to know when you're coming. For my Hokage ceremony, you know?" he whined. She sighed heavily.

"A week before the ceremony, at most. Not before that." she said quietly. She wanted to talk to him in person, somewhere no one could hear, that's what the code she spoke meant. But even if she needed to tell Naruto right now she was pregnant, waiting a month was the best idea. It would be too suspicious if she went to Konoha a month earlier just to speak to Naruto.

"Really? Can't you come tomorrow?" Naruto groaned. Gaara felt a small smile curve her lips, despite herself.

"Naruto. We're both very busy. Actually, you should probably be working. I'm going to lie down a little bit. I'm not feeling very well." she explained quietly.

"You're... You're sick?" Naruto wondered, worried. "What's wrong...?"

"Just dehydration. I'll be better in no time." Four months, at most, and she would be all better. Hopefully, because if people figured her out...

"...Take good care of yourself. At least you're resting, instead of pretending nothing is wrong. Call me in a week, okay?" Naruto said quietly.

"Ok. I'll call you in a week." Gaara agreed. "Until later."

"See you..." Naruto mumbled, then Gaara cut the call.

* * *

Naruto's chest was heavy as he set the phone down. There was something going on... Gaara was sick, and he wanted to talk to him privately. Adding those two facts together made him go cold.

"Naruto. Sakura is here." he started and looked up at Shikamaru. Usually it was Kakashi's secretary who announced people, but in this case... He sighed and motioned them inside.

Sakura looked between him and Shikamaru as the latter closed the door behind them. Then, her eyes narrowed. "Naruto. I'm not going to tell..." she began, probably guessing his true intentions. He did spend nearly four days bugging Sakura, trying to find out who the elusive father of her child was. He wouldn't even know she was pregnant if Kakashi hadn't found out, somehow, because she didn't tell them.

"That's not what I was going to ask. Sakura, this is important." annoyance turned to worry on her expression. "Is Gaara the father of your child?" she looked taken aback for a second, then annoyance returned.

"Naruto! I'm not playing guessing games with you!" she huffed.

"It's not a guessing game. This is only one question, and it's important." he quickly reassured her.

"You realize it's been nearly five years since I'm trying to get married to Temari, and everything is way more troublesome than it should have been. If you're expecting the Kazekage's child from a relationship you kept a secret..." Shikamaru trailed off, his eyes narrowed.

Sakura looked between them, baffled. "No. It's not his child." she said finally, after a few seconds. Naruto wasn't sure if he was happy or disappointed at hearing that – having two of his dearest friends get together would have been great, after all. They would have done well for each other, too.

Shikamaru looked relieved. That was understandable, too, considering such a scandal would no doubt force him to wait even longer to have his girlfriend as his wife. As it was, Shikamaru was hanging on Naruto's promise to get him married as soon as he made Hokage – through sheer insistence.

"Why are you asking that question?" she wondered with a frown.

"Gaara didn't react well when I told him you were pregnant, but I think..."

"You told him I'm pregnant?" Sakura interrupted him sharply, looking annoyed.

"Well, yes." he squeaked and dodged it as she threw one of his books against his head.

"Stop being such a gossip, you idiot. This is supposed to be a secret!" she demanded strongly. Naruto blinked.

"Secret? How do you suppose you'll hide it when you get fat?" Sakura went suddenly still. Naruto realized he had said something wrong when Shikamaru quickly saluted him, then rushed out of the room and soundlessly closed the door behind him. Not to mention the ominous vibes coming off his friend. "Erm, Sakura..."

People could hear their seventh Hokage's scream kilometers away from the Hokage tower.


	3. Crumbling Secrets

_Author's Notes:_ Merry Christmas!

This chapter came out unusually long, but I didn't really find a way to cut it without making it too short.

It's still divided in smaller parts, so reading it shouldn't be too tiring.

Enjoy!

Note: To stave off possible confusion: shinobi and kunoichi are other ways to call ninjas, but shinobi is only masculine and kunoichi is only feminine.

 _ **There's a sex scene in this chapter, cut out due to FanFictionNet policies. To read it, look for this story on the Archive of Our Own archives.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 3: _Crumbling Secrets_**

Hiding her stomach was starting to become a real problem now.

Her Kazekage robes were baggy enough to hide the huge bump, and if she pulled the harnesses tight, her sand gourd's support also hid her stomach. No other clothing hid the bump, however, and wrapping her enlarged and sensitive breasts enough that they wouldn't show in her normal clothes brought tears to her eyes every time she tried.

People stared oddly at her lately, because she was always wearing either her Kazekage robes or the armor, even in situations that didn't require either. No one had pressed to know why, thankfully, though Kankurou had made several jokes about it.

She had thought seriously on the possibility of using a genjutsu, but... She had ninjas amongst her people who could detect genjutsus. If they felt their Kazekage was constantly under one, they would no doubt press her to reveal the reason. After all, her father was replaced by Orochimaru once, and everyone knew what had happened then.

She was only six months pregnant.

She had read several books about this, to prepare herself to give birth on her own and tend to a newborn for a few days. Her stomach was really going to start growing now. The thought made her cold – she wouldn't be able to hide this at all. Not for much longer.

"Gaara? Are you ready?" she looked up when she heard her brother's voice. Giving one last tug at her gourd's harness, she pulled on her Kazekage robes over her clothes.

"Yes. How are the preparations going?" she asked, opening the door to her room. Kankurou grinned at her.

"Everything is ready. We can depart in an hour." Kankurou studied her closely as she wrapped the sash around her waist. "You've put on weight." she froze at his words.

"I've been drinking too much water." she dismissed, though that excuse had long ceased to be satisfactory – if it ever had been. Kankurou hummed, not convinced.

"You need to try harder than that, Gaara. I thought Temari had stopped keeping you from training?" Gaara sighed and removed the sash from her waist, hanging it on a chair by the door. Maybe she should just wear the robes loose. "Not going to hide it. Your cheeks are rounder, too." Kankurou pointed out bluntly. "Even your nose..."

"Fine." she snapped, glaring at her brother, not bothering to wear the sash again. "You've made your point, I'm fat. Was there anything else you needed?" her brother looked taken aback.

"Is... there something going on, Gaara? You've been... odd, lately."

"Nothing is wrong. If that's all, I'll be downstairs in ten minutes." she turned around and strode away from him, ignoring him in favor of her last preparations for leaving her village for two weeks, for Naruto's Induction Ceremony and the Kage meeting that would happen afterwards.

Kankurou stood silently for several seconds. Then, "Is your illness serious? Is that what you're trying to hide from us?" she tensed at her brother's words.

"I'm not..." she began, but he cut her off.

"That excuse isn't going to fly, Gaara. You don't employ stupid people to work with you. I'm not the only one who's noticed something is wrong." Kankurou crossed his arms, and on his unpainted face, his concern was clear to see. "You've been hiding something, and this secret is heavy on you. Won't you confide in your brother?"

That was a loaded question if there was ever one. Mending her relationship with her siblings had taken years of mending trust on both her side and theirs, and though they didn't know it, she still didn't trust them completely, not on personal matters. She never would, probably. Trust was just not something she was capable of giving out... But surprisingly, Naruto had somehow earned her trust without her ever noticing, years ago. Maybe sometime during the war, maybe even before that.

The mere knowledge was chilling in itself. She loved Naruto, and she trusted him. Knowing that her friend had her heart in his grasp, and if he choose to, he could crush it like Yashamaru had once... She pushed the thought away tersely and turned her back to her brother. She would never make the conscious choice to trust anyone with her self.

"There's nothing to be said." she said quietly, her tone neutral even if it was the greatest lie she had ever uttered. There were so many things Kankurou didn't know about her.

"Gaara..." her brother didn't buy her lie.

"We can discuss this later. I'm busy." she dismissed him.

"That's exactly why we need to discuss this now. Are you even in condition to go to Konoha?" she forced herself not to tense at his words.

"I wouldn't be traveling if I wasn't." she told him firmly. Her brother sighed, but he trusted her judgment.

"I'll be waiting for you downstairs." he told her, then left the room.

* * *

She had left Baki to stand at her place back in Suna, since both of her siblings had insisted to be by her side. They were close by her side, too – during all of the travel, she felt stifled by them both. It was very hard to hide from them the fact the travel was making her unwell – thankfully they seemed to assume it was due to the heat of the desert and a possible relapse of dehydration. That was the actual reason, too, but she likely wouldn't have any issues if not for the fact she was pregnant.

She had recovered once they reached the Land of Rivers, thankfully. They took almost five days traveling, as her siblings insisted on taking many pauses and sleeping along the way, and she wasn't in a position to argue against them, as she really was tired.

Naruto was waiting by the gates for them, side by side with Kakashi, and neither of them were wearing the Hokage's working robes.

"Welcome to Konoha!" Naruto greeted cheerfully, smiling widely at her. She gave him a small smile in response.

She could tell he was worried. He had probably spent a month mulling over her request to speak to him alone, and she could read it on him.

So, she wasn't surprised when her friend found a way for them to sneak away from everyone else as soon as she announced she would retire, replacing them both with two of his shadow clones.

What really surprised her was the jutsu he used. "Hiraishin?" she inquired, startled, thinking of the yellow light she had seen before she had felt a rush of wind over her body. But it had been too dull and easy to miss.

"It's an adaptation. I call it the Hifuujin seal, instead." Gaara accepted the necklace that was offered to her, with a seal carved to the pendant. It looked different from the Hiraishin seal she had seen before, indeed. "If you wouldn't mind... I would be really glad if you kept that on you." she looked startled up at Naruto, so see him scratching his cheek nervously. That was a daring request, coming from a Kage to another.

She didn't hesitate to open the latch and close it around her neck. Naruto's eyes widened and his lips parted as he watched her, surprised she had not a single argument against it. Gaara trusted Naruto.

She trusted him.

The thought felt heavy on her mind as she looked away from him and looked around the cave they were in while Naruto was still shocked into silence by her show of trust. It was an odd place, but very hidden indeed. She could feel there were anti-eavesdropping seals on the walls, they tingled on the corner of her awareness.

"Should I be here?" she wondered quietly, recognizing this place was likely a secret place within Konoha, even if it seemed to be in very serious disrepair.

"Hm...?" Naruto was confused for several seconds, but before she could elaborate, he started. "Oh! Ah, there's nothing wrong with you being here. I mean... This is a very secret place, even to Konoha ninja, but it doesn't have much use any longer. My mother gave birth to me here. This room was secured so no one would abuse the weakening of Kurama's seal on her."

Gaara tensed at his words, but Naruto didn't notice, as he was looking around with a wistful expression on his face. She slowly placed a hand on her armored stomach. What a place to give these news to Naruto, indeed. She glanced around the dark, dusty place. So Naruto had been born here...

"You said you wanted to talk to me alone, and considering I have had tons of ANBU on my shadows the past couple of weeks, this place is probably one of the few we will get any kind of peace. Even if they manage to find us, they won't be able to listen in, my dad secured this," Naruto motioned at the walls, as if pointing out to the seals Gaara had noticed. "and there really is no security risk in bringing the Kazekage here. So... What did you want to tell me?"

Naruto turned around then, and concern was plain on his face. Gaara's mouth felt dry as she watched him. She swallowed, trying to get some moisture back.

The moments she hesitated only served to make Naruto even more worried.

"What's wrong? Are you ill? I have been hearing things from Shikamaru..." he stopped talking when Gaara crossed her arms and hummed.

"Temari talks too much." she mumbled.

"You can't really blame her. She's worried..." a pause. "But you haven't told her what's going on. Are you going to tell me?" Naruto asked hopefully. Gaara licked her lips.

"You... You need to promise me you won't tell anyone first." she requested quietly. Naruto raised an eyebrow at her.

She would tell Naruto either way, whether he promised that or not, but it would make her feel safer if he did promise. But she could see her friend didn't want to. He was watching her closely, silent, as if trying to think up a way to sneak away from such a promise and still listen to what she had to say.

She wasn't surprised when he promised something else, instead. "I promise I won't tell anyone if you don't allow me to." so, he intended to badger her into revealing her secret to other people, if he thought it was needed. Fair enough. At least he would wait until she consented first.

"Very well." she murmured, turning her back to him and grappling for words. How did a woman tell a man this sort of thing? It was probably not even useful to her, considering Naruto thought Gaara was a man, too.

Maybe she should start with that.

"Naruto... Do you remember anything about that night we got drunk? When we slept together?" she wondered, and her friend stuttered out a surprised sound.

"Hm... That is..." Naruto laughed nervously, scratching his head as a blush covered his cheeks. "N-Not really." his eyes turned to the floor as he stood tense in front of her. Her friend was lying.

That confused her a little... But then again, maybe Naruto didn't consider his memories truly memories, because they didn't match what he knew of her. Betting on that, she said instead. "You remember it right. I'm not a man, Naruto." she said quietly.

"W-What?" Naruto started, and she was right. She saw it in his eyes as everything seemed to click into place and realization hit him. He remembered, but he hadn't considered those real memories, but alcohol induced delusions.

"I'm a woman." she explained once again. "You can trust your memories in that aspect."

"Y-You're... why? Why do you hide like that? You..." he scrutinized her, as if trying to figure her out. "You don't look like a woman at all, and your siblings..."

"They don't know. Please don't tell them." she looked into his eyes, her gaze firm. Naruto gaped at her.

"You're... You're hiding your gender from your family?" he sounded confused more than indignant, but she could hear a hint of that. "I mean... Are you registered as a guy?"

"Yes. My father believed I was a male, too. I don't know the details, but I had a transformation jutsu on my body hiding the true nature of my gender until I was six years old, and lost control over Shukaku. Until my body changed and I found it out myself, the only person who knew was whoever cast the transformation jutsu on me as a baby."

"...Wow." Naruto stared at her, eyes wide. "Just... wow. Who would do that? Why?" she shook her head.

"I don't know. My mother had no reason for the deception, considering she had already given a son to my father. Whoever it was... This person is likely already dead, or they would have come forward once the jutsu fell to cast it again. We may never find out their motives." Gaara finished with a shake of her head.

"Why are you still lying? Are you worried for whatever reason they had?" Naruto asked with a frown, glancing at her chest. "I mean... Your chest is probably as big as Hinata's. It must hurt like hell to hide that without a genjutsu."

"I have lied about my gender for too long, Naruto. There's no easy way to take this back now. More than Konoha, Suna is very strict about gender roles, culturally speaking. It reflects on our laws... I would be in deep trouble if it came out that I've been knowingly hiding my true gender." she explained, resting her hands on her bound chest. The binds were loosened today, but the armor under the Kazekage robes still managed to hide them.

"Can you pretend you didn't know?" he trailed off as she stared at him. "I mean, if there was a jutsu on you..." she paused at his suggestion.

She could have done it. It might have worked, except... She was six months pregnant. There was no good way to pretend she had been in a male looking body when there was a baby there to prove it was a lie. "That wouldn't work." she told him slowly.

"Why not? It's the truth, even if you took about twenty years to reveal to others this change." he pointed out. Gaara licked her lips.

"It wouldn't work, because..." she paused, and he looked expectant at her. "This is the reason I wanted to talk to you alone." she finished quietly.

"What's it?" Naruto prompted when she went silent. In the seconds that passed after that, her heart beat began to speed up as Naruto watched her closely.

"That night six months ago..." she began breathlessly, and Naruto frowned in concern. "I..." she gulped. "I'm pregnant, Naruto." her friend froze at her words, his expression going blank.

As the seconds passed and she had no other reaction from him, she began to worry. She almost sighed in relief when Naruto's expression changed, and his eyes widened as he pointed at her stomach.

"T-That... That's my child?" he sounded befuddled. Gaara tensed, unsure how to judge Naruto's reaction. Despite his words, his tone wasn't negative, but she could read nothing past his shock.

"I've never slept with anyone but you." she said in a neutral tone of voice, though she felt faint at the unexpected possibility of rejection.

Naruto suddenly moved forward and grabbed her, faster than she could react, and her sand didn't see fit to 'defend' her from something that was apparently not considered an attack. An involuntary gasp escaped her own lips as she clung to Naruto's shoulders, while he laughed and spun her around. "My child! I'm going to be a Dad!"

As far as unexpected went, this reaction fit Naruto far better than his initial rejection-like reaction. Gaara was still tense in his arms, clinging to him, but he didn't seem to notice as he spun her around until she felt dizzy.

Her sand had to help her keep her balance once she was set on her feet once again. Naruto saw it and laughed, half embarrassed, half careless. "We're going to be parents! I'm going to be a Dad." he repeated again, as if he needed to hear it aloud to believe the words.

Gaara gave him a faint smile, though that reaction worried her. Naruto... was not thinking of the consequences of the existence of that child. It was careless of him as a Hokage.

Seeing her expression gradually sobered him, until there was only a small smile on his lips. "We're screwed, aren't we?" he asked finally, but he still sounded far too optimistic.

"If anyone finds out I'm pregnant... Women have been exiled from Suna for lying about their gender. Considering my level of power, and that it's the Hokage's child I'm carrying, they might brand me a traitor and ask for my execution instead." at her words, Naruto's smile was replaced by a grimace.

"The hell they will. No one is executing you, Gaara." the conviction in his voice made her hesitate. Trying to stop such a decision from Suna's council might mean war, and she wasn't ready to sparkle a war over her carelessness.

"If the truth comes out, I'll accept their decision quietly. We should, instead..." Naruto cut her.

"No. Just no." Naruto walked up to her, seeming outraged. "You won't accept anything! And what do you mean 'if'? Are you going to hide such a integral part of yourself for the rest of your life just to appease some bigots? No one is going to execute a war hero because she doesn't have a dick, Gaara. What sense would that make? If they are irrational like that, I'm certainly not allowing you to kill yourself over something as stupid as that!" he exclaimed. Gaara's semblance remained calm, even though she could see Naruto was agitated, and her heart was pounding in her chest.

"A shinobi as powerful as I am, who is capable of upholding such a deception for so many years is a danger-..." she was cut off again.

"...is a damn good _kunoichi_! We work with deception. Whoever feels threatened by this is an idiot whose opinion shouldn't even be considered." Naruto frowned. "You're letting your fears cloud your reason. That isn't like you, Gaara. It's not like you to give up!"

Gaara said nothing as Naruto placed his hands on her shoulders. She pondered his words, and though they conflicted with her beliefs, they made sense. She began to feel uncertain about her decisions. "...If that comes to it, trying to stop my people from executing me could mean war." she pointed out quietly after a few silent seconds.

Naruto scoffed. "That's bullshit. You're worth a lot more than you believe. To be quite blunt with you, if some asshole decided to kill you, I doubt your willing death would keep war from happening. You're a symbol of this peace as much as I am. The other Kages will shun Suna if you're assassinated for such a stupid reason, and that's not considering what the ninjas who are loyal to you might do. It could become a pretty nasty civil war." Gaara's eyes widened, as Naruto's narrowed. "You're not thinking this through." he tapped her temple with a finger of his left hand.

"Suna ninjas wouldn't fight..." she closed her lips when Naruto pressed them with his thumb again. A small, sardonic smile curved his lips.

"You're underestimating your people's love for you. We're no longer the monsters off their nightmares. We haven't been for a long time, Gaara. You're not just any shin-... any kunoichi. No one will decide on your death as lightly as you seem to believe. I doubt they would even exile you – their hands would be tied."

Naruto's words weighted heavy on her chest. But... they couldn't be right, could they? Would Suna ninjas really care if her life was threatened?

She remembered then, that day when she was fifteen. When she had essentially been returned from death, and there were so many people waiting for her return. The memory passed through her mind like a movie, as if she was experiencing everything once again.

But if she remembered it well, no one had gone to rescue her. If Naruto hadn't brought her back, they would only have grieved her and moved on. That was probably what would happen this time.

A small gasp escaped her lips when Naruto's thumb caressed her cheek, and she realized there were tears leaking from her eyes. "Naru..." she trailed off and her eyes widened when they focused on her friend, so see him looking entranced as he stared at her lips.

She knew what was coming, and she had plenty of time to back away as Naruto ever so slowly leaned in until their lips were touching. She didn't back away. She closed her eyes, instead, and reached out to place her hands against his warm shoulders.

Naruto was always so warm. Gaara had also been, once, before she lost Shukaku... Her body always felt cold after that, but it was so warm and comfortable when Naruto wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close against him. She parted her lips as he gently requested with small nips and the caress of his tongue.

This felt right. Being inside Naruto's embrace, being kissed by him, it felt so right. But it was wrong. She hesitantly pulled back and turned her face away, so his lips touched her sand-covered cheek.

"You don't need to feel obligated to have a relationship with me because of this child, Naruto." she told him quietly when he looked askance at her. Most men from Suna would immediately propose to a woman pregnant out of wedlock, but she didn't want to trap Naruto in such a way. "This isn't why I'm telling you this."

Naruto snorted softly against her cheek, then forced her chin until their lips were touching once again, and he was kissing her as slowly and deeply as before. She pressed her eyelids closed and surrendered to him, clinging to his clothes as his kisses left her legs weak.

It felt like forever before they broke their kiss, and Naruto held her closer, moving to kiss the tip of her ear. "If I recovered right all my memories of that night, then you said you loved me." he whispered low against her ear.

She was afraid to admit it out loud again, without the bravery that overconsumption of alcohol granted a person, but she hesitantly nodded against him. She heard a faint chuckle against her ear. "You're one of my precious people, and the memories of that night have been driving me insane with lust lately. I might not feel the same way you do, but I feel in no way forced into being with you. It's actually something I really want to do, to help you raise this child, and our child deserves it. You don't want to be with me?"

"I'm not opposed." she mumbled, breathing in his scent. She would be lying if she told him she hadn't felt the same way towards the memories of that night. But they couldn't be together, a relationship between them wouldn't work.

Naruto's hands ran over her body and pressed over the buckles of her armor, over her stomach. He made a small, unhappy noise in the back of her throat, prompting a faint smile from her. "You want to remove my clothes, do you?" the teasing left her lips before she could censor it.

Naruto choked, startled. He recovered in mere seconds. "Well, I would love to. But not here." she gasped as she suddenly felt a feeling much like wind blowing against her skin. Then, she was in a much better lit place, and she glanced to the side to see it was Naruto's room. A flush covered her sand-covered cheeks when Naruto said. "You can remove your clothes now."

"You're as smooth as gravel." she started when she heard Naruto off to her left side, behind them, and turned to see Naruto and herself staring at them with raised eyebrows. "There are ANBU on the roof, by the way."

"Get rid of them." Naruto ordered, then gently pulled her by the cheek until she was glancing at him again. The two shadow clones left through the open balcony, probably in order to be trailed by the ANBU. Gaara closed her eyes as she was kissed again. When they parted, he murmured. "Seriously, Gaara. I'm not going to do to you anything you don't want me to, but I really want to see your stomach."

She bit her lip, then hesitantly took a step away from him. She had been expecting that, and she had no qualms humoring his request. She pulled her Kazekage's robes over her head then carefully unbuckled her armor, grimacing when she felt a stab of pain on her stomach as the tight pressure was lifted off it.

Naruto's eyes widened as she removed the armor and stood in front of him with her coat parted – she couldn't close the buttons on it anymore. "You're... doesn't that hurt the baby? Pressing her so tight?" he asked, shocked.

Gaara shivered as he placed his warm hands over her stretched shirt, cupping the curve of her stomach with gentle reverence. "I don't know." she said hesitantly. She certainly didn't enjoy the feeling. Naruto looked indignant.

"You don't know? Why the hell are you doing this, then? I saw you flinch when you removed that." he reached out to touch her wrapped breasts, as if to test a theory. She hissed in pain and surprise at the pressure. "Gaara!"

"I can't just walk around unbound. People would ask too many questions." Naruto looked ready to give her a tongue lashing, but he stuttered to a silence when their baby moved against his hand. Gaara always felt it move around a lot once she removed the harness, she suspected its movements became too restricted when she was trying to press her stomach flattened. No, doing that was probably not healthy for it.

"I-I can feel her move..." Naruto whispered in wonder. Gaara nodded hesitantly.

"It does move around a lot." she agreed. Naruto looked down at her stomach in wonder. She was surprised when he knelt in front of her and pulled up her shirt, pressing his ear against her and closing his eyes.

"I can hear her. The sloshing of water..." Gaara placed her hand on Naruto's hair, burying her fingers into the messy strands. "Her heartbeat is really fast. Hello, kiddo! Can you hear daddy?" she smiled as Naruto started holding a monologue with her stomach.

Her smile dropped when she realized he was distracting her, and this was going way off course. She had come here to ask Naruto to raise their child, and not to end up in a forced marriage with him as things seemed to be walking towards. He was the Hokage, and she was the Kazekage. They wouldn't be able to be together even if everyone knew she was a woman, which wasn't the case.

She looked down when Naruto's words to their child trailed off and he frowned. Before Gaara could ask what was wrong, she was surprised to see his closed eyelids become orange – he was using nature chakra. Naruto took a deep breath, tensing against her.

"What's it?" she asked warily.

"I can hear two heartbeats. I can feel two chakra sources." her eyes widened as she stared at Naruto. Twins...? She paled at the thought. She looked down to see Naruto looking up at her. "You need to take better care of yourself, Gaara. Pressing two babies so tight inside you probably isn't good for any of you."

Gaara grimaced, watching as Naruto raised to his feet and his eyes returned to normal. "What do you suppose I should do, Naruto? I can't just tell people I'm a woman." Naruto pursed his lips, disapproving of her attitude.

"I think you should do just that. Hiding like that, you're just hurting yourself without any purpose." she made to argue, but kept silent when Naruto raised a hand to stop her. "But, it's not like you need to reveal your gender, either way. Men get fat too, and you do look a lot rounder on the face and arms..." Naruto trailed off and his eyes widened as he blanched. "Not that I'm calling you fat! I mean, you really aren't!"

She raised an eyebrow at him, not sure why he was acting so flustered. "I am fat. It's just... if I take away my armor, I don't think I'll be able to hide my breasts successfully." she pointed out. Naruto sighed in relief – of what, she wasn't quite sure.

"Well, get an armor that covers only your chest." Naruto pointed out. Gaara pursed her lips.

"How do you suppose I can get one made without having people see my breasts?" she pointed out.

"Can't you just use your sand and pretend you have one?" Naruto wondered. "It's not like you're going out on a fight while you're pregnant... right?" his eyes narrowed.

"If I'm required to, I will." she told him firmly. Their eyes locked into a staring match for several seconds. Naruto's shoulders sagged and he looked away in defeat after several seconds.

"You're vulnerable right now, Gaara..." Naruto tried a last, mumbled argument. Gaara's eyes narrowed.

"Don't start treating me like I'm weak now just because you know I'm a woman, Naruto." she sounded dangerous even to herself.

"Not because you're a woman!" Naruto quickly defended himself. "It's just... they say pregnant kunoichi get problems with balance and chakra control, and stuff."

Gaara was startled as Naruto suddenly moved, and once again, her sand didn't defend her. This time, though, Naruto was quite malicious in intent – Gaara lost her balance as her shoulder was hit by his open palm while he locked her knees with his leg. She tried to jump away and regain her balance, but failed abysmally. She would have landed face flat on her sand if Naruto didn't move quickly enough to catch her.

"Case in point." Naruto pointed out as he helped her to her feet. He squeaked and dodged when Gaara forged a hand of sand to smack his head, her own hands too busy clinging to him until she regained her balance.

"I'm still Kazekage." she sighed. She knew she couldn't fight – not due to her balance, but the exertion of a fight had been causing her to be sick lately.

"Pretend you're ill and get other people to fight in your place for now. You won't even need to pretend very hard, your siblings already think you're ill." Naruto pointed out. Gaara sighed and closed her eyes, rubbing her temple.

"Fine." she muttered.

When she looked up at him again, he was looking at her in concern as he touched her temple. "Is your head hurting?"

"...Yes. It's a pregnancy symptom." she agreed in a murmur.

"Why don't you come here and rest a little, then? You look tired." A shadow clone materialized into being and went to close the curtains, making the room darker as Naruto led her to his bed. She blushed, remembering what exactly she had done the last time she had been on this bed. The memories made her feel hot.

Every thought of attempting to set this conversation on the right track fled her mind.

Naruto helped her lie down and kissed her cheek. With her heart thumping strongly against her chest, she pulled him by the lapels and kissed his lips when he made to move away.

They kissed slowly for a while. Then, Naruto moved around until he was straddling her thighs, his arms pressed against hers as they held up his weight over her. His body's warmth made her shiver in delight.

Naruto's lips trailed away from her mouth, kissing her cheek, her chin, her neck. Her eyes widened and she pushed him away when she felt him run his tongue over her neck. "Don't lick me!" she told him quickly.

He watched her askance. "...Why not?"

"I don't like it." she lied. She didn't care one way or another, because under her sand, Naruto's fingers and his tongue felt the same. But, if Naruto started licking all over her sand armor, it would be unpleasant for both of them. Naruto's eyes narrowed, probably reading the lie on her body language.

"You're lying..." she just stared him down, challenging him to doubt her, until he pouted. "Can I kiss at least?"

"As long as you don't use your tongue." she granted. Naruto leaned in and showered small kisses against her neck and shoulders as he undid the few buttons that hadn't been left open on her jacket.

"You're not wearing your mesh armor." he noted as he pushed her jacket open. She slipped her arms from it, but didn't bother trying to pull the piece of clothing from under her body.

"It's digging into my stomach." she explained. Naruto pulled her shirt up and ran his warm hands so gently over her stomach. Her expression softened as he stared at her stomach in wonder.

Naruto shifted over her, until he was lying with his ear against her stomach again, holding his weight up with a hand and rubbing the stretched skin with the other. She reached down and ran her fingers over his hair affectionately, knowing whatever mood that had been there for the sex was simply gone from him, but not really concerned in moving away from Naruto.

* * *

Naruto and Gaara didn't leave his bed for the whole day.

It was already dark outside, but Gaara was too comfortable inside Naruto's arms to worry about that.

Naruto had been uncharacteristically silent, but by the feel of it, she could tell he was dozing – not sleeping, but not quite awake. He would mumble something or another sometimes, incoherent words, but his hand never stopped running over her naked belly.

She had expected Naruto to become fond of the child immediately, but she hadn't expected all of this. Being welcomed in his arms like that. Sleeping with him again was probably not one of her brightest decisions, but she felt so nice. She felt loved.

But it did beg the question: what were they going to do now? Naruto was giving off the impression he wanted to marry her because of the baby. Gaara would be lying if she said the didn't want this, herself. But Naruto was the Hokage, and she was the Kazekage, and they couldn't just take such a decision on their own. More than likely they would be denied the possibility of a relationship.

Something told her it wouldn't stop Naruto from trying and doing something harsh.

By this point, the only choice he would likely leave for her was to choose whether to follow Naruto's lead and be reckless, or try to be the voice of reason.

On the other hand, if nothing else, today had showed her that her reason might be currently impaired by her concern and distress, and the fear brought on by living twenty years of lies.

Her only choice might be really just following Naruto and hoping for the best – dealing with damage control in his wake. That would be very necessary, because if there was an adjective that would never apply to Naruto, it was 'subtle'.

"Gaara?" she heard him mumble by her ear, moving closer so his chest was flush against her back. So warm.

"Hm?" she wondered when he said nothing else after several seconds.

"Why are you still awake? Go to sleep." he admonished in a murmur against her neck. A smile curved her lips.

"Did you just wake me up to tell me to go to sleep?" she teased, because if she had been asleep, his voice would certainly startle her awake. Naruto snorted against her neck.

"You weren't asleep. I could hear you worrying. Don't worry about anything, I will deal with everything for us." Naruto told her, trying to sound reassuring.

"That's exactly what worries me." she remarked, amused when he groaned and pulled her closer like a teddy bear.

"Just hush and sleep." Naruto mumbled, punctuating his words with a kiss to her neck.

"I don't usually sleep." she pointed out quietly. More often than not, she would spend her nights lying awake so she could rest her body, or sitting on her roof, watching the stars. Specially since she had spent half the afternoon napping inside his arms.

"Do you want me to help you relax a little more so you find sleep easier?" She blushed and her eyes widened when Naruto's hand moved to fondle one of her nipples, gently enough it felt good instead of hurting.

"I..." she stuttered. Really... she was way past the point where she should be feeling embarrassed like that. She couldn't count on one hand anymore how many times she had climaxed inside his arms just that afternoon, and they hadn't been anywhere as insane as that night six months ago.

"I'll take that as a yes." Naruto murmured.

One hour later, they were both sound asleep, holding each other.

* * *

It was almost dawn by the time Gaara woke again. She didn't want to leave Naruto's arms, but she knew she had to leave before dawn broke. She didn't know what Naruto's clone had done, but she doubted her siblings were fooled by the genjutsu he had on him. She sighed.

"Why the sigh?" Naruto mumbled sleepily by her side. He had probably awoken when she moved against him as she woke up.

"I don't want to leave." she murmured quietly. She buried her face against his chest when he pulled her closer again – somehow, they had managed to sleep for hours without rolling away from each other.

"Then don't leave." Naruto suggested hopefully.

"If I don't leave, our ninjas will freak out." she mumbled, then pushed him away. "I should go while it's still dark."

"Maybe you should shower first. You smell like me." he remarked with a small, smug grin. She slapped his shoulder lightly, but she did follow his advice.

Once she had all her clothes on, she placed her gourd harness on herself and pressed her back against the wall in preparation for the effort of tying it as tight as she could.

When Naruto saw what she was about to do, he stood before her and grabbed her hand. "No." he told her firmly, a stubborn set to his jaw, psychologically prepared to argue against her on the matter. "You're not wearing this so tight. You're going to end up hurting yourself."

"Naruto, I can't even close my clothes. I can't walk around..." she trailed off when Naruto pushed her coat off her shoulders. She allowed him to undress her, watching askance, and nearly jumped when a sneaky clone she hadn't seen materializing clothed her with one of Naruto's orange and black jackets instead. That was the jacket that always looked big on Naruto, and it was huge on her. After he zipped up the front, they hid her breasts and stomach easily.

"That looks perfect." Naruto and his clone remarked in unison, before it poofed out of existence.

"...It's perfect... If we want people to know we slept together last night." she remarked dryly. Her sarcasm was noted by Naruto as his expression fell.

"Well... maybe they should get used to the idea." he remarked. Gaara scoffed.

"No. You're not officially the Hokage yet... Better not give anyone reason to fight against your appointment. We can think about allowing others to find out later." she reminded him, unzipping his jacket. Naruto pouted.

Then, his face lit up as he seemed to have an idea. "I know!" and one of his clones was suddenly off, getting himself inside the bedroom Naruto used as a closet and storage more than anything else.

"What's it?" she wondered, curiously.

"You'll see." he motioned her to wait, grinning. After a few moments, his clone came rushing back with a dark red and black jacket that looked unused. "Here you go. No one will think this is mine." he placed the warm jacket on her shoulders. It was a little bigger than the last one, and didn't have Naruto's scent clinging to it. He didn't use it often, if at all.

"Why do you have a jacket you don't use?" she wondered. It was actually a good jacket, and she found the color really beautiful. Far more discreet than Naruto's usual wardrobe.

"Ero sennin gave it to me. Back when he was still attempting to get me to wear something other than orange." he grinned. "It was way too big, though, so I never used it. But I didn't want to get rid of it..." his smile turned wistful, his gaze distant. Gaara reached out and held his hand.

"Thank you, Naruto. I promise I will take good care of it. I'll buy something else this morning and give this back to you." Naruto squeezed her hand and shook his head.

"No. I want you to keep it. It looks really good on you." he reached to her wrist and fiddled with the jacket, fiddling with a lace there until the cloth was tight around her wrist. So it wouldn't slip over her hands if she needed to fight. That was useful. When Naruto did the same around her hips, she realized the jacket concealed her stomach very nicely.

Looking at the mirror, she realized she looked fat on it, but at least people couldn't actually see her stomach. Whether she had put on weight or not was left to their imagination, and that really was prefect. "This works." she nodded to herself.

The only problem left was how she was going to carry her sand without any support. She would need to deal with that later – Naruto's clone probably had her gourd, she only had a small amount of sand on her apart from her armor. It was shaped into a miniature gourd which she strapped to her waist, using the belts she removed from her harness.

"You look handsome." Naruto gave her a thumbs up.

"I need to find another harness for my gourd." she thought aloud.

"Should you be carrying around that much weight while you're pregnant?" Naruto wondered quietly. She pursed her lips.

Naruto was right, she probably shouldn't. She rarely walked around with her gourd in Suna, as there was sand everywhere with the remnants of her chakra. They weren't as fast as the sand in her gourd, but they weren't as slow as sand just infused, either. But when she came to Konoha, and had to carry her gourd, the weight brought an horrible pain to her back. She had suffered it silently for a while, but when Kankurou had offered to take the burden off her, she had accepted quickly, leaving only that small gourd on her waist for emergencies.

"Probably not." she finally said.

"Kankurou was carrying your gourd earlier. You could ask him to keep doing that." Naruto suggested.

"...and confirm their suspicions that I'm ill." she finished with a frown. Naruto hummed.

"Well, you are, kind of. I mean, the way Sakura is acting nowadays, she might as well be. She took a lot of licenses and stuff, and she isn't as far along as you are." Naruto stood behind her and placed his hands on her stomach, once again cradling it.

She wasn't very happy at the prospect, but she silently nodded her agreement.

"You should see a doctor, too. To make sure nothing is wrong." Naruto said hesitantly.

"I can't do that." she reminded him. "Men don't get pregnant, Naruto."

"...Would you allow Tsunade to examine you? I know you trust her." Gaara tensed in Naruto's arms.

She had trusted Tsunade with her life on the battlefield. She had trusted the woman to defend the shaky peace between Suna and Konoha. She had been the reason Gaara had returned alive from his brush with Akatsuki, because she wouldn't fool herself into believing Elder Chiyo would have revived her if not for Naruto and Sakura.

But she wasn't sure she could trust Tsunade with her secret. "Naruto..." she began warily.

"Please? Just to make sure nothing is wrong?" Naruto pleaded, holding her closer. "Just to be sure you will be safe." he murmured quietly.

Gaara looked at his pale face through the mirror. Both their mothers had died giving birth... those weren't very good odds. Though Naruto's mother had been killed by outside forces, that fact was still not at all reassuring.

But... She wasn't sure she could place her secret in Tsunade's hands. She would rather give birth on her own – she had been studying about it, she knew she could do it. On the other hand, everything could become much worse now, considering she was expecting twins. If not for Naruto, she would never have guessed that.

"Please, Gaara." Naruto whispered against her ear again. "Just Tsunade. She will keep your secret."

"...The same Tsunade who loves drinking. Whose alcohol got both of us drunk and in this situation in the first place?" she reminded him, tense. Naruto looked offended for a moment, but then an exasperated semblance replaced the offense.

"...Well. She's not the kind of drunk to blabber about people's lives. It's also been a long while since she got smashed to the point of getting a loose tongue. She probably has better alcohol tolerance than me with Kurama." he pointed out. "She won't tell anyone."

Gaara stared at Naruto silently for several seconds, her gaze unwavering. Finally he grimaced. "Would you accept it if it was Sakura? She's been studying about pregnancies a lot now that she's pregnant herself." Problem was, she couldn't trust Sakura any more than she could trust Tsunade. She stared silently at Naruto, until he asked her. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes." she agreed, putting barely any thought to it.

"I trust Sakura to keep this a secret. Will you trust my judgment?" Gaara's lips pressed into a grimace at his words. She closed her eyes, she felt put on the spot by him.

"You're the kind of person that believes in the good of every one, Naruto. You have been betrayed before." she whispered, her voice pained.

"But this is Sakura we're talking about. My team mate. One of my best friends. She won't betray us." he told her firmly. "If anyone else finds out, I'll be right here, by your side, I promise. Trust me." she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Okay." she agreed weakly, after a long silence. Naruto said nothing, but he turned her around and held her tightly. She buried her face on his chest, trying to regulate her breathing and heartbeat as they became quicker.

This was it.

The moment she had seen the positive pregnancy test, she knew her whole life would crumble to pieces. All the lies she had lived with for nearly three decades. This was the beginning.

Whether Sakura would keep this a secret or not, she was sure other people would find out. Naruto would eventually convince her to tell her siblings...

...Everyone else would know when she gave birth.

"Naruto. When I give birth, I'm going to give our children to you. I want you to pretend they were left on your doorstep by a former lover." she told him seriously, wanting to judge his reaction. She couldn't say she was surprised by the outrage on his face.

"You're abandoning them?" he whispered, and she flinched away as if she had been slapped. "No. No, I didn't mean to say that. Just... why? Are you that afraid of coming out as a woman? Of trying to be together with me?"

Gaara swallowed thickly. "Shikamaru and Temari have been trying to bend the council for years, do you really think..."

"They weren't radical enough about it. I really think we can force their hands. I also really, really think that you have nothing to be afraid of, concerning your gender." Naruto tried to be reassuring.

Gaara wasn't reassured. "Trying to badger our councils is not the best of approaches."

"I won't badger them. I have a strategy." Naruto told her firmly. Gaara sighed.

"I need to go." she said quietly, and turned to leave Naruto's apartment.

Naruto grabbed her by the shoulders and held her close again. "I'm sorry, Gaara. I really should have thought before saying that to you." he murmured, his tone heartfelt in his honesty.

"You said nothing that wasn't true." she remarked quietly, pushing him away. "Dawn is breaking. I really need to go."

It was cowardly of her, but she used the sand shunshin to get away before Naruto tried to grab her again.

She shouldn't feel guilty about her decision. It was better for them if their father was Naruto... Gaara would never be good enough in comparison. If there was the possibility they could be parents together... But no matter how optimistic Naruto was, that was just very unlikely. She would just have to try very hard to be a good uncle. Or, more likely, aunt.

Her secret was going to come out. Sooner rather than later.


	4. Making Plans

**Author's Notes:** I've had a few people ask me whether I'm going to change Gaara's name.

I won't. Gaara is a gender neutral name, as most japanese names are. Even if it wasn't, I'm not sure I made it clear enough, but everyone thinks Gaara's a boy – including her parents. The prequel explains it better, it's called **Building on a Lie**. You'll only have the full explanation for it much later, on the sequel.

This chapter is mostly on Naruto's POV, it will probably be the only one. I just wanted to give you a feel of what's going on inside his head right now.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 4: _Making Plans_**

She wasn't surprised to see her siblings awake in her room, but she was weary. They both looked up in concern when she arrived, then did a double take. "Gaara? Where have you been?" Temari wondered, eyes wide as she eyed her new clothes.

"I was talking with Naruto. We had several things to discuss." it was partially true, though they spent more time in each other's arms than really talking.

"You were... talking... with Naruto." Kankurou said slowly. Gaara's eyes narrowed as she glanced at her brother, wondering what he was trying to get at. There was clearly a hidden meaning to his words, but she couldn't tell what.

"Yes." she agreed as she moved to get a glass of water from the jug. "There were important things we needed to discuss." she said quietly.

"Couldn't you have waited until morning? And... are those his clothes?" she eyed her brother neutrally.

"No. My old clothes were getting uncomfortable, so I acquired new ones." Naruto gave them to her, but Kankurou didn't need to know that.

"Uncomfortable how?" Temari wondered as Gaara sat down, sipping from her glass.

"They were too tight." her sister stared at her. Her brother lifted an eyebrow as he ran his eyes over her body appraisingly.

"You put on weight." he noted, not for the first time. Gaara only shrugged. "We should hit one of the public training grounds."

"No." Temari told him firmly. "Gaara's still ill. Don't push his health." she warned.

"Temari, he'll turn into a ball at this rate. He's already well on his way into achieving that, really." he shook his head. "Tch. What did Naruto have to say about your moobs, Gaara?"

Temari flushed, looking outraged as she cried out, "Kankurou!" Gaara watched them warily.

"Moobs?" she wondered quietly, not knowing the meaning of the word.

"It's nothing! Kankurou just needs a kick on the ass." Temari growled, raising to her feet and grabbing their brother by his ear. Kankurou whined as she dragged him away from the room by the appendage.

Gaara watched the closed door for a few seconds, then shrugged and went about her day. She had a lot of things to do – most of which consisted on preparing herself mentally for exposure to Sakura Haruno. She had no doubt Naruto would round on her for that at the earliest opportunity.

* * *

Naruto cursed himself when Gaara turned into sand as he tried to grab her wrist.

Why did he have to tell her that she was abandoning them? Acting like a jerk wouldn't convince Gaara he wanted nothing but her wellbeing. "Stupid, stupid." he groaned, smacking his own head.

He sighed and went to take a shower, his head full with the events of the last twenty four hours.

Everything was mind blowing. Not only finding out Gaara wasn't a guy, but being told that everything he remembered about that drunken night was real. Gaara had really been one of the hottest women he had seen. She had really told him she loved him. They had really...

Naruto flushed. He hadn't ever been nearly as kinky with Hinata, much less his other flings and serious girlfriends. Gaara and him really had gone wild that night, and it had been damn good. Last night he had gone far more gentle and careful with her, because of her stomach, but Gaara didn't seem to mind, nor get irritated with him. Sakura was always irritated with him when he tried to treat her more carefully lately.

"God, thinking about Sakura so soon after thinking about sex is disturbing." he shuddered. He didn't know when exactly that happened, but Sakura was like a sister to him nowadays. He couldn't see her in that light at all.

But Gaara... Damn, Gaara looked like a guy when she was hiding her body under layers of clothes, but naked, she was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. She had a confidence while she was naked that he had never seen another woman possess. It was startling to think that a woman that confident was actually afraid of letting others know she was a woman.

Then, there was her pregnancy. A smile curved his lips at the mere thought. He had seen how scared Gaara was about all this, but... He couldn't help feeling delighted about it. He was going to be a Dad! He was going to have two children!

He also had called Gaara on thinking of abandoning their children. He grimaced and rubbed his face – he was an asshole. She was terrified about all this, and everyone thought she was a guy, of course she would think of something like that. Calling her a negligent parent over that was a horrible idea, specially knowing how much of an ass her own father had been. Naruto just hoped his insult wasn't eating at her right now. Knowing Gaara, it was impossible to know, really. His friend could brush some things off as if they were nothing, but sometimes some silly thing would eat at her for years. He needed to fix this.

He barely ate anything – he just downed a toast and a glass of juice and was already out of his door. He made two clones – one to keep up with his work, and another to track down Sakura. He went after Gaara himself.

Gaara was his... her stoic self when she opened the door. Naruto kept himself from flinching – she was definitely mad at him. She had been anything but stoic last night.

"Gaara, I'm sorry..." he whispered, quietly. "I shouldn't have said..." Gaara's eyes widened, and she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside the small apartment, locking the door behind them.

"Naruto!" she warned in a whisper. "There are ANBU watching us." she reminded him urgently.

"Hm..." he hesitantly nodded. "I'm... sorry." he finished lamely, hoping she understood what he was sorry for. She watched him with a neutral expression for a few seconds, then slowly shook her head.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. You are right, I'm renouncing my fatherhood. You would make a far better father to them than I could ever be." Naruto wanted to argue heatedly against that. There were so many things wrong with that sentence. "I... would like to be their uncle if you would allow me to."

"No!" Naruto said quickly, strongly, and he saw pain in Gaara's eyes at his exclamation, despite the fact her expression remained neutral. He quickly amended. "You're not their uncle, you're their mother, Gaara. They need a mother."

Gaara frowned at him. "Naruto..."

"After all the shit we grew up with, our children deserve to have both of their parents, don't you think? It's not even like you don't want to be with me." her neutral expression was completely gone now, it was the first time he had seen her frown that hard.

"That's impossible, Naruto." she told him firmly, her tone cold. He could see fear in her eyes... Fear of discovery.

"I won't tell anyone but Sakura, I promised you I wouldn't. But even as a guy, that doesn't keep us from being together." Gaara crossed her arms over her chest, a defensive gesture. It highlighted her breasts and her stomach, and Naruto felt the sudden urge to touch her belly again, to feel their babies alive inside her. He curbed the urge.

"I don't see what you're trying to get at." she said after several seconds of silence.

"We want to strengthen the alliance between Suna and Konoha. What better way than have both leaders marrying each other, no matter their gender?" Naruto asked. Gaara's face became slack.

"Naruto, that wouldn't work." she sighed, after a few seconds.

"Why not? It would be a fool proof alliance!" he defended his idea.

"You would be fusing our villages together. Our ninjas would have a whole lot to complain about that." she pointed out.

"I wouldn't. You would still be Kazekage, and I would still be Hokage, and we would both defend our village's interests. The only difference would be in the fact that neither of us would accept any kind of hostility to the other's village." Naruto explained his thoughts.

Gaara grimaced and reached up to place her fingers between her eyes. She was feeling a headache again. He had seen the gesture very often the previous day, and he had heard Temari complain about Gaara's constant headaches.

"It wouldn't work that way. Our council would complain about each decision we took, claiming we were showing favoritism to the other's village. The other Kages might feel threatened about such a strong tie between both of our villages, too."

"The Konoha Council already complains about everything Kakashi does, I'm sure they will do the same to me. It's not like that would change a lot either way. Is your Council always happy with you?" Gaara's scowl was all the answer he needed. "What we need is people's support. That's the only reason I'm becoming Hokage at all, Gaara. It's because my ninjas and civilians believe in me. We only need to convince them that our marriage would bring advantages to both of our villages. The council would be forced to accept our decision once that happened." He hesitated then.

He had thought that far, but he didn't know which advantages would these be, besides guaranteed peace between both of their villages. But he could see from the analytical look on Gaara's eyes that she was already seeing several advantages he hadn't seen. "You can think of advantages?" he asked hopefully. Gaara looked startled up at him. A small sigh escaped her lips, then.

"Yes. Several, though to be truthful, the advantages to Suna would far outstrip Konoha's. We do have knowledge your ninjas would appreciate, as well as gold, silver, iron, and several other metals we can make no use of that we can share with Konoha." Naruto was surprised at her words.

"Gold and silver? Wha... Why is Suna so... poor then?" he asked slowly, carefully. The corner of Gaara's lips twitched, but he couldn't quite tell if she was grimacing or smiling.

"Unprocessed ore is worth a lot less than the pure mineral, and we don't have the water resources to waste on metallurgies. It can't help my people in any way the way it is. Konoha does have water to waste on it, and my Council would feel more at ease allowing another village to explore our land if the final profit was shared equally between us, instead of having us get the mere pittance for which the brute material is really worth."

Naruto's eyes widened as he heard her explanation. Once she finished he grinned. "That's brilliant. I'm sure the greedy idiots of the council would love that excuse... of both our councils." Gaara chewed on the corner of her lip, looking thoughtful.

"We have fertile lands, too, which are only out of use because we don't have enough water for plant life to thrive. A non-profit alliance with Konoha would allow both of our countries to become fully independent from other countries in food production. Konoha doesn't have enough fertile land dedicated to agriculture in order to keep your people fed without importing food from other countries. In Suna, it's even worse."

Gaara looked up blankly. "Such an alliance between our villages would make both our villages mostly, if not completely self sufficient if we ever faced another war." she finished grimly.

That... wasn't a cheerful thought, but as far as it went, their people would be very happy to hear that. The other Kages... might not be as happy. He could understand why Gaara looked so grim.

A sense of deja vu hit him, but he was confused as to why. He quickly brushed it away.

"W-Well... That's good news! We have plenty of reasons for this to work out just right. Do you still think it might not work?" Naruto asked with a grin.

Gaara looked distracted for a moment, and Naruto watched her hands with intent eyes when he saw her move them to cup her stomach almost fondly. That was clearly an involuntary gesture, and it triggered on Naruto a strong feeling he couldn't name.

"It might work." she agreed slowly. "But we need to be very careful about how we put this into play. If it backfires once, we won't have another chance. I think our worst issue will be with the nobility of Land of Fire and Land of Wind... But my country's nobility already sees Konoha as their main source of ninjas more than Suna." she finished quietly. Naruto grinned at her. Before he could tell her how happy he was that she agreed with him, both of them felt the presence of Gaara's siblings approaching the room.

Gaara's hands jerked away from her stomach as if she had received a shock, and she stood tense as a board, her face once again neutral, as they waited for her siblings to arrive.

"G... Naruto." Temari looked at him with surprise. What made him curious was the expression on Kankurou's face, though. It looked... smug might be the word, though it was hard to tell with the face paint.

"Hey! Sorry to invade your apartment, I just came to pick Gaara up. There are some things we need to talk about." he explained cheerfully.

"Talk... huh?" Kankurou wondered, smirking, throwing them a lewd look. Naruto gaped at him, floored at the wild conclusion the man had clearly just jumped to.

Before he could embarrass himself trying to stutter out a response to that, Temari drove a punch into her brother's head that made even Naruto wince.

"Ignore him, Naruto. I'm sure you have important things to discuss about our alliances." she punctuated each of her words with a glare at her brother. "We'll talk to you later." she grabbed Kankurou's arm and made to leave.

"Ah, don't leave! We can't stay here, secrecy is somewhat important. I'll be taking him to the Hokage tower." he motioned for them to stay. "If you would follow me?" he asked Gaara hopefully, reaching out with his hand. Gaara nodded once and held his forearm, and he transported them to the cave he had been born in.

"You need to talk to me again?" Gaara wondered quietly as she looked around.

"...My clone is bringing Sakura here. Holy shit!" he turned to Gaara, eyes wide. Gaara looked alarmed towards him.

"What?" Naruto shook his head strongly.

"I just... never imagined... Kankurou." he stuttered, feeling mortified at the very obvious, suggestive look his soon-to-be brother-in-law had thrown them.

"What? What about Kankurou?" he turned on her, and gaped when he saw she looked clueless.

"Y-You didn't notice?" he stuttered. She just stared blankly at him, not deeming to grant him with a response. He didn't know how to explain to her that her brother had suggested they had left together to do far more sordid things than talk... Which was true, really, but damn, that man was perceptive. "Kankurou... erm... thinks we're having an affair." he explained slowly.

Gaara looked baffled. "Come again?"

"The way he talked, it's as if he thought we came here not to talk but... erm... be naughty instead." he finished with a nervous laugher, scratching his cheek.

"...He thinks we're having sex?" she asked bluntly, and Naruto felt his cheeks burn.

"Yes." he agreed, laughing shakily, scratching his cheek. "He's... sharp."

She grimaced. "I shouldn't have told him I slept with you." he nearly choked on his own saliva.

"W-What?" Naruto squeaked, his voice embarrassingly high pitched.

"The night we got drunk. It was Kankurou who was feeding me alcohol to loosen my inhibitions. I'm almost certain he added some drug to my drinks in order to enhance the effects of the alcohol, or I wouldn't have gotten drunk that fast. He knew I would stop drinking before I reached my limits if I was aware of them."

Naruto looked horrified at her. Her own brother had gotten her drunk so she... That was unbelievable. Gaara continued. "He was hoping I would take to bed one of the women he brought with him, but... I brought you to bed instead." she finished and pressed her lips.

"Oh." he suddenly remembered Kankurou didn't know Gaara was a girl. Getting your brother smashed so he would get laid sounded far more acceptable than doing that to your sister... But, still, after seeing the consequences of that, Naruto couldn't help but think Kankurou had done a rotten thing no matter what gender Gaara was.

"I told him I slept with you to make him feel guilty. It worked. He hasn't tried to get me drunk again at social events." she finished with a heavy sigh.

"...and he thinks we're having a fling." Naruto finished. After a few silent seconds, he grinned. "That's... kind of perfect. If your siblings think we're both gay, no one will question your willingness to accept marriage to me."

Gaara frowned. "But you're straight." she pointed out.

"Well... It won't be hard for me to get others to believe I have a crush on you. I mean, your expressions are pretty hard to read most of the time, but I wear my heart on my sleeve." he pointed out with a grin. Gaara stared at him, and he was surprised to see doubt in her eyes. She didn't agree with him.

...Okay. Most people couldn't read him that well, not enough to notice his mask... But Gaara was Gaara. She was a jinchuuriki like him, and she had lived a childhood much like his. He offered her a weak smile, which she returned faintly.

"When is Sakura Haruno going to come?" Gaara asked quietly, after a few moments of silence.

"...I don't know. My clone needs to get her alone and explain everything to her first. It might take a while." he shrugged. Gaara shifted on her feet, as if standing up was starting to become uncomfortable. "Do you want to return home with me and wait for her there? Once she's here, my clone will disperse and I will know."

Gaara stood silent for a while. When Naruto was giving up getting a response, she slowly nodded and walked up to him, placing her hand on his arm. He nodded and took them both to his home.

The look on Gaara's eyes shifted, then. They weren't the neutral gazes, nor the all-knowing look that he was used to seeing on his friend far too often. Naruto was starting to get used to that look – it was the expectant, confident gaze Gaara only glanced at him with inside his bedroom.

Naruto couldn't resist it – he lowered his lips to her and kissed her slowly. She kissed him back, still inexperienced but not at all hesitant.

Man, he loved that woman. Maybe not as much as she loved him quite yet, or rather, just as much but not quite in the same way. But hell if he didn't enjoy tumbling the sheets with her.

It was surprising, really. If he considered everything he knew of Gaara, she was supposed to be a virgin, at least in the sense that she had never slept with anyone but him. She didn't act like that at all, though – and Naruto had slept with virgins before. He hadn't enjoyed the experience, he liked women who were sure of themselves, like Gaara, much better.

If only she was that sure of herself outside the bedroom. When she was acting in her capacity as a Kage, she was just as confident and strong as right then. But when it came to her social life... to revealing to others she was a woman, her confidence seemed to crumble like the sand she manipulated.

In the bedroom, she seemed to be fully accepting of her true gender. She wasn't bad at having sex. She sometimes fumbled, but that was something most people did when they were getting together with a new lover for the first few times. It didn't look like she was completely clueless about what she was doing.

Once they were relaxing in his bed, with Gaara firmly within his arms, he wondered out loud. "Have you really never had sex with other people before?"

Uncertainty filled her eyes as she looked up at him. "Yes... Am I doing something wrong?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing at all. That's exactly why I'm curious." she blinked, surprised. "I mean, virgins are usually scared and they don't really know what to do..." he trailed off when he realized just what he was telling Gaara. Before he could backtrack and apologize profusely for being an idiot, she hummed.

"Well, I've read a lot on the subject." she said after a few seconds, and though she tried to seem completely shameless, he could read some hesitancy on her eyes. Naruto boggled at that.

"You... You read porn?" he squawked. Gaara shrunk at his words.

"Yes. I was aware I would never become intimate with another person, books and sex toys were all I expected to have my whole life." her gaze was challenging, as if daring him to reprove of her.

Naruto squeaked when his brain caught up to something else altogether. "Y-You use sex toys?"

"I'm human, Naruto. I have needs, too." she looked away, this time clearly embarrassed.

"It's not that I'm telling this is wrong! I'm just... surprised. In a good way." he explained quickly. She glanced at him again, askance. "I-I mean...! I like using sex toys." and he really wished he could take the words back and drown in them right at the moment.

But Gaara looked at him in wonder. "I suppose we can use them together."

Naruto thought he was going to die for a moment. Then, he burst out laughing. "T-That would be great!" he said quickly, before she thought he was laughing at her idea.

She hadn't mistaken him, though. When he focused on her, he saw the beautiful little smile he always enjoyed seeing on her lips.

* * *

Sakura had been angry with Gaara for not visiting a doctor before, but she hadn't found anything wrong with their children, and Gaara was mostly healthy. Sakura had left her with a prescription for several vitamins and told her to drink more water – which, to Naruto's surprise, Gaara didn't seem to be happy about.

At least, he was surprised until he remembered his friend lived in a desert.

He took to getting Gaara to drink water every time they met during the day. It wasn't like Konoha was really lacking on that aspect. He insisted every time Gaara refused, until she accepted the glass.

Sakura nearly killed him three days later, telling him too much water was dangerous, when Gaara started getting sicker. They settled on a healthier middle ground.

The rest of the week went by very quickly, with the arrival of the other Kages and the pile of paperwork Kakashi and him were buried deep under. His sensei had given him a sadistic little smile when he told him he would be happy to let Naruto deal with all of it on his own once he was officially Hokage.

He couldn't really complain about him. He remembered Tsunade had just dropped everything on Kakashi's hands and taken a year long vacation during the change in their rules. He knew that, because Kakashi had told him then, "You want to be Hokage someday? Time to get some practice at it," and he proceeded to bury him on Tsunade's backlog of paperwork.

He doubted Kakashi would leave him to flounder, even after he began to wear the robes and Kakashi stopped wearing them.

Which was why he needed to tell him what exactly he was planning to do with Gaara.

Kakashi watched him in a long silence once he was done explaining – the censored version, of course, in which Gaara was male and not pregnant. "That's... a daring plan." he broke the silence slowly. "But you're not considering something quite important for the Elders of both villages, which this arrangement would forfeit."

"What?" he wondered, worried.

"All Kazekages of Suna have been heirs by blood of their past Kazekages. If you got married, you would cut his line short. You... You're Naruto, not to mention one of the last living Uzumaki within Konoha. Your bloodline is a very powerful asset to Konoha. They will want children from both of you." Naruto glanced at him, surprised.

But... Well, they were going to need to make way for introducing their children sooner rather than later. He grinned at his sensei. "Gaara already thought of that. We have two female friends helping us with that, and we're going to have heirs less than three months from now." he finished in a whisper, silently declaring that a secret. Kakashi stared at him.

"...Well. The Kazekage is smart." Kakashi drawled. Then, his eyes narrowed. "And sneaky. You've both been planning this for a long time, and you didn't make me aware of it."

Naruto chuckled nervously. The plan had been conceived a week before, but considering Gaara was already well into the sixth month of pregnancy, there wasn't a way to admit to that. So, he took up the blame.

"We wanted to be sure everything looked good before telling anyone else. You're the first person we're telling." he offered. Kakashi sighed heavily.

"And you choose to inform me on the day of the passing of the hat. Smart of you." he raised an eyebrow. Naruto scratched his cheeks, forcing a grin.

"I didn't intend it that way..." Kakashi snorted and shook his head.

"I believe in you. You're so clueless that it worries me some times. At least if you and Gaara do marry, he'll teach you some things. He's a political prodigy." he felt proud of Gaara at his teacher's words.

"Right? He thought all of this up on his own. After I told him of the initial idea, that is!" Naruto announced cheerfully.

Kakashi steepled his fingers and touched them to his covered lips as he studied him closely. "...Why the interest in being together with him? You're not gay." Naruto's face went bright red.

"...Ah. T-That is..." he stuttered. He couldn't tell Kakashi that he wanted their children to have both their parents with them. Understanding crossed Kakashi's eyes, and for a horrifying moment, Naruto thought he had realized Gaara wasn't a guy. Maybe he had read it off his mind they were going to be parents.

"You have a crush on him." He fought not to sag in relief at his teacher's words. He turned his face away, and ended up giving the impression he was embarrassed. "I didn't see that coming... But it sort of makes sense. You do understand each other in deeper ways than anyone else ever could." he looked up surprised, to see his teacher grinning at him. "I hope your plan works. For its sake, I'll pretend you told me about it an year ago." he finished, leaning back against his chair.

"T-Thanks, Kakashi!" Naruto sighed in relief.

"Just don't pull this sort of shit on me ever again." he told him in a warning tone. "And here I was thinking I would get a life long vacation from the seat." he looked confused up at him.

"...What's that supposed to mean?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Where are you both going to live? I would think not in Konoha, considering all their past Kages are dead, and both Tsunade and I are still alive." Naruto hadn't considered that. At all.

But the answer came to him easily. "We're going to use Shadow Clones to be in both places at once." Kakashi started. Then, he looked pensive.

"With the absurd amount of chakra both of you have, it might be an option... But a dangerous one. Other ninjas might exploit it by trying to attack both villages at once, to try and take you out."

"If they do, we have people like Temari, Kankurou, Tsunade baa-chan and you to help us. Not to mention Kurama." Naruto pointed out.

"I hope that will be enough, because other countries won't be happy with the kind of strong alliance both of you are suggesting. But, to be truthful, both Suna and Konoha councils would be stupid to refuse. It would make both our villages stand much stronger against possible hostilities."

Naruto grinned at his former teacher. Other ninjas really respected his opinions, having Kakashi on their side was a great sign.


	5. Consequences of a Choice – Part I

**Author's Note:** I apologize for the cliffhanger, but there wasn't a place less awkward to cut this chapter on. It would be twice as big if I cut it on the next best spot. The next part only requires minor revision, I should be able to post it in a couple of days, so if you don't want to deal with the cliffhanger, just wait a few more days.

* * *

 **Chapter 5: _Consequences of a Choice – Part I_**

She was very tired when she finally arrived home. Crossing the desert while she was over six and a half months along in her pregnancy was definitely not a good idea. Specially when no one else knew about it, and she was trying to convince them she was doing well, so she couldn't take it easy.

She had managed to stop Naruto from forcing her to take either a clone of him or Sakura herself with them, at least. It had been very hard to talk him out of those ideas, but at least no one was suspicious of her.

Well... They weren't too suspicious. Maybe avoidant was the better term, no one tried to confront her, though she saw people staring at her more than once.

When she arrived home, the first thing she did was lie on her bed and curl up on her side, hoping her back would stop hurting any time soon. At least her sister had stayed in Konoha, she was usually the only one nosy enough to come check on her randomly.

She was tired, nauseated and in pain, but after several minutes lying down, she still managed to fall into a dozing state.

After her eyes closed, she could swear she felt Naruto's hands on her stomach – gentle, warm... With a small, contented sigh, she fell further asleep even as she felt her pains ebb away slowly.

"Gaara?" her body froze at the voice. She felt like someone had poured iced water over her when she was jolted awake, and the pain in her back returned as she tensed. "...You were asleep. You didn't notice me." it wasn't a question.

She winced and struggled to sit up. "What's it? Did something happen?" she watched her brother in concern. Kankurou looked very worried.

"Yes. My insomniac, control freak little brother allowed me to sneak up on him, while he was asleep at two in the afternoon." Kankurou remarked, crossing his arms.

Gaara grunted, annoyed. "I'm just tired. If you have nothing important to say, leave." she sagged back on the bed and closed her eyes.

"My Kazekage is ill. That's one of the most important and grave things that could've happened." Kankurou pulled on her shoulder, watching her sternly. "Why haven't you seen a doctor yet?"

"I don't need a doctor, Kankurou, I'm not ill. I'm just a little tired." Gaara grumbled, once again sitting up. Kankurou was incredulous.

"A little tired? You look terrible, and _you were asleep_." he stressed the words once again. "You're not irresponsible, Gaara. So, why are you doing this? Why are you going through all the trouble to keep this a secret..." Kankurou paused. After a few seconds, he hesitantly asked, "Are you dying? Are you trying to keep your death from burdening...?"

"No!" Gaara huffed, interrupting him. "Kankurou, just drop it. Nothing is wrong." she insisted.

"Then at least stop lying and tell me you're taking care of yourself." Kankurou watched her with narrowed eyes. Gaara pressed her lips thin for a few moments, then she sighed.

"I have this under control, and I'm taking care of myself. I'll be all better in six months." she promised, giving in to his insistence. Kankurou seemed to become even more unhappy.

"Can you are least tell me why you're sick? I'm your brother, I should be by your side, supporting you." Gaara looked away, and remained silent. The silence hung heavily between them, until Kankurou gritted his teeth and broke it. "Tch. Fine! Do you need more water?" Gaara nodded slowly. "I'll bring you something to eat, too."

Once Kankurou was gone, she groaned and buried her face on her pillow. That had gone well. She felt guilty, now – she hadn't wanted either of her siblings to feel like she didn't trust them. But with this, she couldn't.

Kankurou returned half an hour later, with a jug of water and take out food. This time, Gaara was aware of his presence as he crossed the corridor. She moved to sit at the small table near her window when she realized he had brought food for himself, too, and waited for him to join her.

Her brother set the table in silence, but she could see there was something he wanted to say. She didn't prompt him, she waited in silence for him to speak his mind.

"Gaara... I'm sorry you can't tell me what's going on, but... won't you let me help you? You've been really tired lately. Why don't you take it easy and have me do some of your tasks instead?" Gaara studied him silently.

"If I share my workload with you, people will ask questions." she noted he looked angry at her answer, but not with her.

"Let them talk. You've got nothing to prove to them. You're human Gaara, and every man needs a break every once in a while. No one can begrudge you that." she stared outside her window, silent at his words.

Kankurou had spoken those words often. Since they were young adults, really. 'You have nothing to prove'... But she had been trying to prove to people she wasn't a monster since she was fourteen.

...She had probably already managed, by now. Why was she still trying so hard?

"I don't want people to know I'm not at my best." she explained quietly. Strategically speaking, that wouldn't be good.

"It's too late for that, Gaara. Everybody who works close with you knows something is going on. You're acting so suspiciously that they're already expecting the worst." she turned to him, startled. He had believed she was on her death bed... Did other people believe that too?

"Why hasn't the council brought up any concerns?" she wondered. Kankurou's smirk was grim.

"I doubt they know. The people who have noticed are shielding you. You didn't notice?" it was more of a affirmation than a question, but Gaara nonetheless shook her head, hesitant. "People think you're dying, Gaara. I'm not the only one who came to that conclusion. You're trying too hard to hide the fact you're ill, it looks like you're trying to avert a crisis."

Gaara sighed silently. If worse came to worst, she might die attempting to give birth on her own. She couldn't give him any guarantees on that aspect. Kankurou seemed to read as such in her body language, because he looked even unhappier.

When she refused to say anything else, he didn't insist on trying to find out what was going on. Instead, he lightened the subject, and started talking about his friends and training. Gaara relaxed, silently thanking him for the attempt as she joined him in eating.

* * *

After her conversation with Kankurou, she started noticing how people were treating her. She was being shielded, indeed. Not only was she getting less paperwork than usual – only on matters that required strictly her attention – but she noticed her secretary was lying about her presence in her office when she was feeling unwell, redirecting visitors elsewhere.

She felt... honored and loved by her people. It was a nice feeling...

Both Naruto and her began to prepare their council in order to propose their marriage. She had managed to convince her friend that being patient was the best approach, instead of being blunt in an attempt to garner people's support as Naruto had first suggested.

As the month passed, her stomach grew. She was thankful she had given up any pretense of hiding it, because by now, it was frankly impossible to do so. Her clear weight gain was met with perplexity and worry by her ninjas, but only the council confronted her on it. She adopted evasive tactics to deal with them, but at that point, she lost any enduring hope that her true gender wouldn't come out. When she presented her heir to the council, some people would draw conclusions. She would be disappointed with their intelligence if they didn't.

Naruto had been trying to convince her to allow them to know sooner rather than later, so her health could be monitored. Honestly, though she didn't let him know from her tone of voice, she was beginning to agree with him. Still... her life would fall apart if other people knew. She couldn't deal with it at the moment. After she gave birth, at least she wouldn't be feeling so sick and tired anymore. Naruto would be able to help her care for the babies then, and she would deal with everyone else and their reactions.

She had been developing other clear physical symptoms lately. Shortness of breath and chakra control issues – both of which were expected symptoms, according to books. She was always so tired and in pain, which were common as well. Her siblings had insisted she start taking walks with them every day around the village, because Temari was still keeping her from training, and they thought she was getting worse because of lack of exercising. She rarely could hide from them when she was having trouble breathing.

They were in one such walks. Gaara enjoyed walking by the park, truth be told. She didn't have good memories of that particular park, but watching the children carefree, running and laughing, made she feel as if she had accomplished what she had set out to do. Her people felt safe enough for it to reflect on their children.

Safe...

She saw it, the flash of steel from the corner of her eye, near a man she could feel had chakra too powerful for a civilian – the power level of a chuunin. She had a just a few milliseconds to react to the man's offensive, but she made it.

She turned around and stared right into the ninja's eyes as he grabbed one of the running children by her arm and held her throat at knife point. Her siblings hadn't noticed it before, they reacted too late, but they were tense and ready by her sides seconds before the civilians began to scream.

"Naruto Uzumaki. Come with me peacefully or this kid won't go back to her mother alive." the child began to cry, and Gaara saw a desperate woman that looked like her from the corner of her eyes. Her mother. As her ANBU began to push back the civilians, she made a sand clone to take the woman aside, to the back alley were her daughter was safe and sound, after being replaced by a sand clone of herself once Gaara had realized the man's intentions.

"Naruto isn't here. You've got the wrong village, man." Kankurou told him, his eyes narrowed, ready to use his chakra strands to grab the child at the slightest mistake from the foreign ninja without any village marking. He hadn't seen Gaara change the child for a clone – no one had, it seemed.

Gaara really wanted to know how a chuunin of bellow average chakra and reflexes intended to kidnap the Hokage. Just thinking of that, she could tell something really bad was about to happen, and she expanded her senses to her sand, trying to see if this was an ambush of some sort. She paled when she felt sealing ink on the floor around them. Uzushio came immediately to mind, when she connected the seal usage and Naruto's name.

"Hah! He might be fooling you, but our sensor isn't fooled by genjutsu. He can smell the stink of Uzumaki's blood from miles away." The ninja pressed the knife harder against the child's neck. "So, be a good boy and come along. Tell your monkeys to back away, too, or..." with a single hand seal, made by the hand still holding up the knife, everyone tensed as the floor under their feet lit up with purple runes. "...I'll activate this nice seal, and your tailed beast will be freed to rampage over this quaint village." the man mocked.

"Your sensor's mistaken. Naruto isn't in Suna." Gaara told the man patiently, though her heart sped up inside her ribcage. Was that man really capable of sensing Uzumakis... of sensing her children? The second man, a blond, had a blank, expressionless look on his blue eyes, and most of his face was covered by a cloth mask. His eyes looked familiar... She was certain she had seen that man somewhere before, but she didn't recognize him with the mask on.

"Isn't he?" the man with the hostage laughed. "Raki, show us were Uzumaki is." Everyone was tense as the blue eyed man's hands flew through hand signs so quickly they could barely see, let alone react. Gaara's sand felt restless around her.

But her sand couldn't defend anyone from the bright light that washed over everybody in several meters radio. When she managed to open her eyes again, her stomach was emitting a faint, reddish light which alarmed her. She was also alarmed because she had felt her children start inside her, and to her concern, they became agitated.

The expressionless man, Raki, was completely lit up in a bluish-white light, down to each of his fingers and toes. He showed no reaction to her, but the other ninja was staring at her stomach, befuddled.

"What the hell does that mean?" he demanded, looking around. No one else was shining.

"Unborn child with Naruto Uzumaki's DNA." The man's voice was expressionless and sounded mechanical, loud in the tense silence around them. Gaara froze at his words.

The silence that stretched seemed to last forever. Gaara realized that the only leverage the man believed he had had – control over Kurama, it seemed – was now gone, and she recognized the desperation in his eyes. Gaara acted quickly.

She dissolved the sand clone in his arms and trapped him with the sand before he could react. He cried out a command before her sand covered his mouth, and his colleague flew up to the sky somehow. She didn't hesitate jumping onto her sand and following him post haste.

"Gaara, don't!" she heard Kankurou cry, an edge of panic in his voice. A sense of deja vu hit her then, and she remembered her fight with Deidara. Unlike Deidara, Raki wasn't trying to take her down, he was fleeing.

Just like Deidara, however, he seemed to be fond of explosions. Once she was close enough to him to make a grab at him with her sand, the man simply exploded, as if he had been a bomber clone all along. Her sand reacted instantly, shielding her of all but the deafening sound of the surprisingly great explosion. It almost caught a section of her village, but her sand encased the houses and protected them. Her children became even unhappier, she rubbed her stomach in an unfruitful attempt to calm them down.

She peered out of her cocoon of sand to see the man was completely gone. Only then, with her ears still ringing, she allowed her protection to dissolve and returned to the park were her siblings and several ANBU were now standing with the captured ninja.

By the looks of it, he had tried to kill himself with some poison known by her ninja, who were now working to neutralize it and keep his life for interrogation.

"Are you crazy? Why did you fly after him on your own like that?" Kankurou demanded when she jumped on the floor, patting her shoulders and looking her up and down, trying to find injuries. She pursed her lips at him – but she knew Kankurou had never really recovered form the trauma of her fight with Deidara, and even she could see the parallels, so she didn't tell him off.

"What's the man's condition?" she demanded of her men, ignoring her siblings. One of the ANBU, a kunoichi, saluted her.

"Kazekage-sama. He attempted suicide, but the poison has been neutralized. We're healing the damage made, he will live." she was one of the only people who was making an effort to pretend she wasn't staring at the light shining from Gaara's stomach. Gaara self-consciously placed her hands over her stomach – her children still seemed to be feeling distressed, their movements were a lot stronger than usual, but they were getting too sparse for her liking.

She needed to go to a doctor. She had researched names for such an emergency, she hoped she would find one of the doctors on the General Hospital today.

"Take him to interrogation and find out why he's after the Hokage. Until I personally tell you that he's to be sent to Konoha as their prisoner, treat him as a S level prisoner of Suna."

"Yes, sir!" She saluted again.

Gaara turned to the other ANBUs. "Put the village on a level three lock down, make sure there are no more spies."

"Sir!" three of the men saluted, then they were gone.

"Temari, contact Konoha and inform them what has happened." her sister's eyes narrowed as she stared at Gaara's stomach. Gaara wrapped both arms around her midsection defensively, muffling most of the light. "I meant now." she finished strongly.

"You've been keeping us in the dark for months, Gaara. You're telling us what's going on, now." her sister snapped just as strongly – her voice just as deep – as she stood straight, staring right into Gaara's unblinking eyes. The ninjas who were still around them seemed to hold their breaths as they stared each other down for several seconds.

"There's no point, you have already guessed it." Gaara finally said. "Yes, I'm pregnant. Now, inform the Hokage, before they realize their mistake and attack him in his own village." Temari gritted her teeth, and her eyes promised silently this conversation would continue later.

"Kankurou, get Gaara to the hospital, now. I'll meet you there later." Temari ordered him, then she was gone in a wisp of sand.

"You're... how?" Kankurou stared, eyes wide. "Did Naruto create some funky jutsu that did that?" Gaara closed her eyes, feeling her head throb.

She should have thought of a lie – anything. But lying now would have made everything worse, specially since her babies would soon be known by the very people who stood around her. She was also worried about them, she needed to have a doctor ensure they were alright.

"We're going into a level three lock down. You should be securing the Kazekage compound." she told him pointedly, ignoring his half baked question completely.

"Hell, no. I'm getting you to the hospital, now. Are you really..." Kankurou's eyes widened. "Wait a second, how long have you been pregnant? All this time you've been sick and avoiding doctors, you were...?" Gaara just stared at him, her jaw set. "Gaara!" he exclaimed, scandalized.

"You should remember well the night I conceived." her voice was biting. Kankurou paled, and his mouth worked open and closed for several seconds. She turned her back to him and strode down the street towards the direction of the General Hospital. Her ninjas stood and saluted her as she passed.

She felt sick and exposed. She was also somewhat relieved – her people's reaction so far was respectful, if shocked. She wasn't being called a liar, she wasn't being scorned. No one was doubting her identity.

How long would that last?

"Y-You were drunk... What did Naruto do?" Kankurou caught up to her. Gaara closed her eyes, making an effort not to cover them.

"Nothing you haven't done with other women several times, I'm sure." she hissed, well aware her ninjas were probably using all their eavesdropping techniques on them right at the moment.

"But you're not a woman. Naruto couldn't get you pregnant without doing something different." Gaara said nothing. "Gaara?" her brother sounded desperate, probably realizing what her silence meant. She ignored him. "Oh, god..."

She stopped walking when he grabbed her arm and her sand didn't stop him. Kankurou stood in front of her and scrutinized her face. "You're a woman..." he sounded doubtful. Gaara pried his fingers off her arm. "Why did you hide that? How? Your documents..."

"Father registered me as male. By the time I was old enough to know better, I couldn't care less whether people treated me as a boy or a girl. Then... when I was fifteen, I was already too embroiled in his lies to undo them. There was no easy way to rectify his mistake." she looked away. It was the truth... and not. If she was completely honest with herself, she would never have been able to garner the respect and reputation she had if people knew she was a woman. She would never have become Kazekage – and she had promised herself she would. She hadn't tried hard enough to correct that mistake because of that.

"Damn it! Why did father fuck everything up so badly with you?" Kankurou cursed, grimacing.

"It doesn't matter now. He's dead." she turned around and resumed walking.

"Damn it, Gaara, why didn't you tell us when you realized you were pregnant? Were you just going to tell us when you were giving birth?" her brother caught up to her quickly.

"No. I was going to pretend someone else bore them." she told him honestly.

"And how do you suppose you would give birth? Under a genjutsu?" Kankurou scoffed.

"I've trained myself to do it on my own." her brother looked scandalized. Then, his face became blank, and his hand closed into a fist.

"...Gaara." she ignored his whisper. They were already arriving in the hospital, and several people were staring at her. Gaara had covered her stomach in sand so the light would stop showing through – she needed several layers, but she managed to hide the light. The sand over her midsection was quite clear to see, however, she didn't attempt to hide it as she was feeling unwell and it was taking a lot more effort than it should to keep the sand in place with her poor chakra control.

"Kazekage-sama!" one of the attendants exclaimed when they arrived at the front desk.

"Are doctors Sasaki or Mieko currently on duty?" she inquired politely. The woman quickly checked her computer, then directed them to Dr. Mieko's office.

It was empty. Gaara let herself in and laid down on the examination table, because she was starting to feel dizzy. Kankurou was still silent, she couldn't read his expression.

Gaara jumped into a sitting position and both of them tensed when someone suddenly materialized in the room with a gush of wind. "Naruto." she gasped, touching the pendant her friend had given her, remembering it existed. Her heart sped up so suddenly that it left her panting for breath.

"Gaara! I heard just now what happened, are you okay? All of you?" Naruto walked up to her and ran a hand over her forehead, then rested it on her stomach. "Were you shining?"

"They still are." she corrected him, allowing all the sand to leave her stomach, including her armor. The light shining through only her clothes was much brighter than before.

Gaara's eyes widened when Naruto unzipped her jacket and lifted her shirt, baring her stomach. He didn't seem to realize Kankurou was there in the room, staring at them... It was extremely awkward.

At least until Naruto gasped. "Is that a foot?" and she gaped at her stomach.

With her skin bare and no sand so refract the light, she could see the outline of her children through her skin. Where she could feel some pressure, there was the outline of two tiny feet, though one of them was barely visible. Naruto caressed her skin gently, then actually pushed his fingers against the foot, dislodging it. The baby moved, pressing its feet harder against her skin for a moment, and causing her to wince as whatever they did, they also pressed painfully against her kidney – they were probably stretching. The other baby moved as well, and a small hand outline showed on her stomach for a moment, before all outlines became shapeless and undecipherable.

"Wow." Naruto breathed, and she had to agree with the sentiment. Almost involuntarily, her finger traced the spot where the small hand had pushed. "Is... Is this jutsu dangerous? Are they okay?"

"I'm in a doctor's office to inquire exactly that." she sighed. "I don't think it is. It seemed like a locating jutsu, however, and from what I understand, it was meant to locate people from your family. So, be careful about it." she looked at her friend with concern.

"I'm being careful. Don't worry, I'm already dealing with this." Naruto wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her lower back. Gaara laid her head against him and closed her eyes, enjoying the impromptu massage.

"You're a shadow clone?" she asked for confirmation to her suspicion.

"Yup. I promised I would be by your side if this happened. Remember?" Gaara swallowed thickly. He had said he would support her if people learned of her true gender, but...

"...We haven't explained to our councils our involvement yet." she pointed out quietly.

Naruto snorted softly. "By tomorrow, the fact we're having a kid together will be all over Konoha and Suna. Trying to be subtle is pointless. You need me." she did. Naruto ran a hand over her hair. "You're shaking, but Temari said you didn't get hurt in the battle..."

"It wasn't much of a battle. They were expecting you to surrender." Gaara frowned and looked up at him, serious. "They seem to have a way to free Kurama, or so they believe."

"Temari described the seal to me, and I've seen it before. It would have screwed me up back when Kurama wanted to overpower me, but now that we have a bond, all it does is help me draw his power all that much easier. It was much like falling asleep for you, back when you had Shukaku." they both looked up when there was a knock on the door, and only then Gaara remembered Kankurou had been in the room.

He had left at some point, and they were both alone now. Gaara tugged her shirt over her stomach as Naruto went up to the door and opened it. He made quite a sight in his Hokage robes, and the doctor was startled to see him.

"...Hokage-sama, Kazekage-sama." she bowed politely. Naruto blinked, then with a hand sign, his robes were gone and he was in his more usual, orange and black coat, wearing a burnt orange shirt and maroon pants.

"Only Naruto is fine! You're here to check on the babies?" Naruto wondered hopefully. The doctor looked askance at Gaara.

"I haven't told anyone yet." Gaara mumbled to Naruto.

"I told her everything I know already." Kankurou remarked. "You're a woman, you're pregnant, and that asshole used a sensing jutsu of some kind on your kid." his eyes narrowed. "Did you say 'babies'?"

"Yup. They're twins." Naruto agreed cheerfully. "I checked on them with senjutsu just now, and they're alive and strong, but I can't tell anything else, so please." he waved towards Gaara.

"Can you lie down a little, Kazekage-sama?" Gaara nodded slowly and laid on the examination table, pulling her shirt up again.

As she began examining her, her empty jinchuuriki seal lit up, making her stomach shine even more. The babies seemed unhappy with all the lights, and they were making her miserable as well by pressing all the wrong places.

The frown on the doctor's face was not very promising. "Is something wrong with them?" Naruto worried.

"The children are healthy, this jutsu doesn't seem to have any adverse effects on them." There was a 'but' there. Gaara narrowed her eyes as the woman hesitated to continue. "I'll ask for a second opinion, to be completely sure. Please don't leave the bed, Kazekage-sama." she bowed quickly, then left in a rush.


	6. Consequences of a Choice – Part II

**Author's Note:** I wanted to post this chapter right after the previous one, but it took a while for me to fix the first scene. I'm still not sure I like it.

This chapter is the halfway mark, and the turning point of the story.

Because I know there are people who hate bad endings (I'm included there), I'll warn you this fic will have two different endings – a happy one, and a not-so-happy one. The sequel will take after the happy ending, the other ending is the reason for the 'angst' subgenre, so be warned.

* * *

 **Chapter** **6** **:** ** _Consequences of a Choice – Part I_** ** _I_**

The atmosphere in the room became heavy. Kankurou crossed his arms over his chest, looking grim. "Something is wrong. I told you you should have visited a doctor when your health worsened, Gaara."

"You're ill? You didn't...?" Gaara cut through Naruto's question.

"I'm fine. Sakura Haruno examined me." she explained to her brother. Kankurou pursed his lips.

"I wasn't aware Haruno knew anything about pregnant women." he told her pointedly, knowing very well that wasn't her specialty.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Naruto asked forcefully.

"I'm not worse than I was before I visited you." Gaara said quietly.

"Are you trying to fool us, or are you trying to fool yourself?" her brother asked darkly. "I can make you a list of reasons why you're worse. Your headaches would be right on top."

"People get headaches all the time. I lived with them in my childhood." Gaara scoffed, glaring at him.

"But you haven't had anywhere as many since Shukaku was gone. What does that tell you?" Kankurou snapped.

"They're just headaches." Gaara dismissed again.

"Arguing about this is pointless. At least you're going to a proper doctor now." she shot a look at Naruto, feeling a little betrayed by the relief in his expression. He had kept his promise not to tell anyone, but he was too happy it had come out.

"Wait! You knew... You knew about all this, and you didn't make Gaara see a doctor?" Kankurou glared at Naruto. Naruto smiled nervously.

"Well, Gaara's stubborn..." he mumbled.

"Naruto's been badgering me almost as much as you and Temari." Gaara sighed loudly, lying back down and closing her eyes. Her headache was getting worse. She relaxed when Naruto's warm hand rested on her forehead and he gently caressed her hair.

"Do you have a headache now?" Naruto asked in a quieter voice.

"That's a given, he almost got blown apart by those assholes." Kankurou growled.

"What? Gaara said there wasn't much of a fight?" Naruto was alarmed.

"There wasn't. The ninja was fleeing, he exploded when I caught up to him." she corrected, before Kankurou blew the story out of proportion.

"He flew away, and Gaara followed him on his own, just like he did when..." he faltered. "Just like _she_ did when that batshit insane Akatsuki dude with the bombs came. One would think she would've learned with the experience." Kankurou finished bitterly.

"It's my duty as Kazekage to protect Suna from invaders, no matter the risk to my own life." her brother glared at her, his arms falling to his sides and his hands fisted tightly.

"You are Suna, Gaara. You have high ranking ninja to protect your life, because your death would destroy Suna. Fucking use them, stop shielding Suna with your own body. That's reckless and stupid." Kankurou's eyes narrowed. "Trust us." he finished strongly. Gaara tensed, then closed her eyes once again, and said nothing else as guilt washed over her.

"Well, uh..." Naruto began awkwardly. "Maybe we should calm down, hm?" Gaara heard Naruto whisper something so faint she couldn't distinguish – he was probably mouthing something to Kankurou.

"I'll get us tea." Kankurou snapped, then left the office. Naruto let out a heavy sigh.

Naruto moved his hands until both of them were cupping her temples. The room beyond her closed eyelids lit up, and his hands became warmer. Gaara opened her eyes to see Naruto was communing with Kurama and using sage chakra – his pupils looked like crosses and he was shining bright golden.

"Naruto...?" he smiled as she sighed. Whatever he was doing, it was heaven. It was soothing her headache – he was probably healing her. Her quick heartbeat slowed down in her chest, and the discomfort she had been feeling slowly ebbed away. After a while, it seemed even easier to breath.

She didn't know how long they stayed like that. At some point, she closed her eyes again, she even dozed for a while, but her eyes immediately snapped open when the door opened.

Dr. Mieko had returned, along with Dr. Sasaki and another doctor Gaara didn't know. Kankurou trailed into the room after them – it seemed he had given up bringing tea.

The three of them looked apprehensively at Naruto until he stepped away and returned to his normal state. "I was just soothing her headache."

"Were you healing him... her, Naruto-sama?" Dr. Mieko walked up to Gaara and placed her hand on her bound chest once again. "You did heal her." she concluded with a sigh.

"Shouldn't I have?" Naruto wondered, his eyebrows raised.

"Have you healed Gaara-sama before?" Dr. Sasaki asked sternly as the other doctor moved to cup Gaara's temples, after a silent request that Gaara accepted with a nod.

"If she needed healing, yeah. Why wouldn't I?" Naruto took offense.

"Have you healed her after she got pregnant, Naruto-sama? We just need to know if she was in a worse condition before." Dr. Mieko quickly explained as Dr. Sasaki moved to examine Gaara's stomach. Once again, the experience was unpleasant, specially with another doctor examining her brain.

"He hasn't. No one healed me of anything in the past months." Gaara responded for him.

"Worse condition? What's wrong?" Naruto looked between them, dismayed.

"What's your diagnostic, Takeru?" Dr. Sasaki asked as soon as the other doctor's hands lifted from her temple.

"There were several injuries, healed at different moments. Naruto-sama seemed to have healed several of them right now, but a few were healed less than a day ago. Longer than that, I can no longer tell... But it seems like Gaara-sama's own body was healing them before, if there was no one else. It's surprising she hasn't suffered seizures yet."

Dr. Sasaki turned to Dr. Mieko, serious. "You know what has to be done. You're one of my best students, I doubt you ever had any need for a second opinion. This has clearly advanced to the last stages." she closed her eyes and nodded.

She stepped forward, her expression grim. "Kazekage-sama, your life's currently at serious risk. You're suffering from an ailment of pregnancy, and the only cure is immediate delivery of the children." Gaara felt her stomach drop, and Naruto's hand squeezed hers convulsively.

"I... I'm not feeling ill." she told her faintly.

"You certainly are." Dr. Sasaki told her with pursed lips. "With your chakra control as low as it is, you must be able to tell."

"Low chakra control is a symptom of pregnancy..." she trailed off when the first doctor shook her head.

"Not that low. Along with your high blood pressure, that's a sign of Mother-child Circulatory Disorder. It's a deadly disorder, we will have better chances of saving your life once you're no longer pregnant. Not much else can be done." Gaara's eyes narrowed at her words.

"Chances? What are the chances I'll survive after termination of the pregnancy?" she demanded, her voice raspy. The doctors looked uncomfortable, and she knew they weren't good.

They didn't say anything.

"Considering the clear ineffectiveness and violence of this treatment, I refuse it." she snapped, her eyes narrowed. Whether Gaara survived or not, her children weren't physically mature enough to survive yet. "I don't see why there's need for such a harsh intervention when I'm not even having symptoms." she looked between the three doctors. Dr. Mieko hesitated, and Dr. Sasaki crossed his arms, annoyed. She interrupted him before he could say anything.

"You are having symptoms, Kazekage-sama." she began, quickly cutting him. "Your body seems to be healing itself of most of the damage caused before you can acknowledge it. I would've believed it was caused by the one tail, but..." she trailed off. Shukaku was gone, he couldn't heal Gaara anymore.

Gaara hadn't been damaged often, so she couldn't compare her healing rate before and after Shukaku was gone. The idea it might have remained the same was intriguing. "If my body is healing, I don't see why we should rush labor. I'm surviving, but my children won't."

"That's exactly it, Kazekage-sama. You're surviving. But we don't know why, and this might change at any moment, quite literally. You're at an extremely high risk of suffering a stroke or a chakra system failure while your pregnancy is affecting your chakra and blood circulatory systems. Chakra system failure can't be healed by any technique we know, and depending on the location, a stroke might kill you too fast for intervention." Dr. Mieko explained quietly. Dr. Sasaki crossed his arms and stared Gaara down.

"Think it through, Kazekage-sama. If we let this go on, all three of you will die, but you still have good chances of surviving if the fetuses are removed through surgical incision." Dr. Sasaki explained to her. She glared at him. If he was saying 'good', instead of giving the numbers she had requested, she doubted they were any good.

"Even if I accepted this, doing as such is impossible, considering my sand shield." Gaara reminded him. All three doctors seemed surprised.

"You'll be sedated..." one of them began.

"My shield would still keep you from cutting into my flesh. Even if I was awake and actively removing the shield, it would likely still be impossible. Not even I can consciously damage myself with a knife to the extent of cutting open several layers of my skin." she corrected their assumptions. The three doctors exchanged glances, some silent message passing between them.

"We can induce natural delivery, then. This is an even stronger reason for us to do it now, before you become too ill to survive the physical stress of labor. If we're unable to aid you with surgery..." Dr. Sasaki trailed off, and the grim silence that issued weighted heavily over all of them.

"I still refuse." she said quietly after a long silence. Naruto squeezed her hand almost painfully.

"Gaara..." his voice was raspy. Gaara turned to him with a frown.

"The babies are too immature to survive outside of my womb, Naruto." she explained to him.

"The three of you will die if you insist on this foolishness. If you terminate the pregnancy now, you'll have a chance to get pregnant again later, and if you're responsible with prenatal care next time, it likely won't come to this situation once again." Gaara bit her tongue to keep from telling Dr. Sasaki quite bluntly what she thought of his opinion.

"Isn't there another way?" Kankurou interrupted them before Gaara could say anything. "Can't you keep monitoring her and treat her until the children are a bit older, or something?"

"This illness is only manageable while it's only affecting the blood circulatory system. Once it evolves to affect the chakra circulatory system, trying to maintain the pregnancy is too dangerous to both mother and child. Even if we wait, it's more likely than not that delivery will result in a stillbirth." Dr. Mieko explained grimly.

"In the long experience we have as doctors, allowing this pregnancy to continue is gambling with your life without any purpose, Kazekage-sama." Dr. Sasaki stressed her title.

"It's a gamble either way, if we're dealing with chance." she remarked, crossing her arms.

"Your condition is caused by the fetuses' placentas. Once they are removed, you'll be cured. There's no gamble there." Dr. Sasaki corrected her. Gaara could read the other doctor's expression, however, and she realized he was lying.

"There's something you're not saying." she watched him with narrowed eyes.

"I'm the doctor, you're the patient. It falls to me to understand your condition, you don't have the training to understand it." Gaara bristled, and to her surprise, something that hadn't happened in several years happened then. Her sand reacted adversely to her feelings and started hissing out of her gourd despite her conscious effort to contain it. Her poor chakra control was probably the reason.

"Listen, we have your medical opinion. How about you allow Gaara and me to talk about it and decide the best course of action, eh?" Naruto asked nervously, as all the people standing in the room looked at the sand cautiously.

"Great idea, Naruto!" Kankurou quickly grabbed the two male doctors and pulled them out of the room. "Let's go." the female hesitantly followed.

After some shuffling and whispered arguing, Gaara and Naruto were alone in the room. She tensed when he tried to hug her, but a few seconds later she relaxed into his arms and placed her hand against his chest. Naruto held her closer.

"I'm sorry, Gaara." Naruto whispered against her forehead. "I'm really sorry." he was crying. Gaara hesitantly wrapped her arms around Naruto and held him closer, trying to comfort him.

"You've already given up on them." she noted quietly.

"You're an important..." Naruto's voice disappeared. He cleared his throat, but he didn't continue his sentence.

Naruto had never believed in sacrificing anyone for the greater good.

"I don't want to lose you." he finished in a whisper, he sounded afraid. Gaara closed her eyes, a bitter smile turning her lips. "I should have made you see a doctor." his voice was faint.

There was nothing she could say in response, so she remained silent.

Naruto's arms tightened around her, and she held him closer when a single sob escaped his lips. Both of them stood silent, holding one another – Gaara felt strangely numb as she stared at the wall across from them, listening to Naruto's hitching breath.

It was as if a cycle had come to a close. She had been born killing her mother, and she would die birthing her children. It was fitting, in a morbid way. So long as her children survived.

"Tsunade is coming." Naruto whispered against her ear. It was the only reason she wasn't startled as another clone of Naruto materialized with the former Hokage.

Tsunade sighed heavily as she saw them. "You're always getting yourself in trouble, aren't you, brat?" she remarked grimly, looking straight at Naruto. Gaara hesitantly let go of Naruto to have a better view of her. "By that I mean, getting into a romantic relationship with another Kage." she explained, eying them both.

"...We weren't together. This was an one time accident." Gaara told her quietly. She rolled her eyes.

"It doesn't matter. The brat told me what happened, and I agree with your doctor. You'll have better chances if you give birth now rather than waiting, Gaara." she pressed her lips.

"It's nonetheless a gamble, and I would rather make this gamble once our children actually have a chance of survival." Gaara politely turned down her advice.

"You're seven and a half months along. If your children are healthy, they have a ninety percent chance of survival outside the womb. Their odds will only get worse if your own health becomes impaired." she looked startled at her former colleague.

"Ninety percent? Where did you get that figure?" Tsunade motioned with her hand.

"It's an statistic from our newborns. Our main hospital keeps them." Gaara looked up at Naruto, and he averted his eyes from hers. So he had brought Tsunade here to convince her to take the medical advice.

"In Suna, children this young have a thirty percent survival rate." Tsunade's eyes widened and she exclaimed a loud profanity in surprise. "Maybe children with lung problems have better chances in Konoha."

"By all means, come to Konoha, then. I'm not lying." Tsunade took from her pocket a page with Konoha information Gaara likely shouldn't be privy to. So that was how she had this information off the top of her head – she had actually hunt for these statistics when Naruto asked it of her. They were from a census of two years previous. Gaara was surprised to see they had high survival rates for children as young as six months of gestation, and she really was interested on knowing how they managed that. In Suna, if a child was born before seven months, they had no statistically relevant chance of living.

"I can't just go to Konoha like this..." she whispered, reading all the numbers listed on the page. Their general statistics of mother mortality on childbirth were a lot lower than Suna's. She wanted to know why. It really bothered her that her village's hospitals were clearly inferior when it came to childbirth, and that was something she had never realized. It was something that had to be changed. She had already lowered infant and child mortality during her rule, she would definitely... She wouldn't have the time.

On the paper, women with her condition had sixty percent chance of survival. Considering the comparison of all the data she did know from Suna's hospitals, her chances in Suna were likely lower than fifty percent. Possibly much lower.

"With a difference of sixty percent in your children's living chance? You bet you can. Those kids are our Hokage's kids, too. Konoha's council certainly won't complain, and I doubt Suna's will complain, considering those are their Kazekage's kids." Naruto's hand squeezed her shoulder.

"Let's go. I can take you both back to Konoha." Naruto told her in a anxious rush.

"You can't just kidnap me like that, Naruto." Gaara told him weakly.

For a moment, she thought Naruto really would just grab her and leave. He gladly didn't.

Though, as the day continued to get worse and worse and Gaara had to deal with people from her council, she wished Naruto really had kidnapped her.

* * *

Naruto was holding her hand again.

Gaara glanced at him from the corner of her eye as he chatted with Kankurou over breakfast. Yesterday, Naruto had been all over her, holding her hands and hugging her in public. She believed it had been from the sudden scare, or maybe he was taking very seriously his promise to be by her side when people found out about her. She had been too shaken to have a complaint about it yesterday.

She was starting to feel really uncomfortable now.

When she felt him run his thumb over the back of her hand, she pulled her hand from his grip and stood up. "I need to go to the toilet." she told him when he looked askance at her. That was a place he didn't follow her in.

So she locked herself in the room and stared at the mirror.

She didn't look good. She was very pale, her skin almost had a greenish tinge to it. But no one but her could see it, because her sand armor kept that hidden. She did look tired, with her eyes bloodshot. But she didn't think it was enough for anyone to fret over her nearly as much as Naruto was. Naruto had seen she hadn't slept – the shining jutsu on their bodies had kept her babies awake and active, and in turn they hadn't allowed her to fall asleep even once.

She tensed when someone knocked on the door. "You okay in there?" a silent sigh of relief escaped her lips when she heard Temari's voice, instead of Naruto's.

"I'm fine." she replied loud enough to be heard. She ran wet fingers over her eyes to soothe them. She didn't look like she had bags under her eyes because her birth marks hid it, but her eyelids certainly were feeling dry and scratchy.

"Does that mean 'I'm fine', or 'I'm dying and I won't tell you'?" she blinked.

She reached for the door and opened it. Temari was standing there with her arms crossed, looking defensive. "I'm fine," she repeated again.

Some of Temari's defensiveness left her body language. "You didn't look it when you left the table. Is something the matter?" Gaara licked her lips.

"...Naruto's acting odd." Temari frowned, and she was surprised to note her sister couldn't tell what was different about him. "Haven't you noticed he's always touching me now?" Temari started at that.

"The cat's out of the bag now, there's no real reason for him to hide your relationship. If you don't like PDA, tell him." she pointed out.

Gaara frowned. "What's PDA?"

"Public displays of affection? You know... something he has always done with his girlfriends. I suppose he's been more clingy towards you, but that's perfectly understandable after yesterday." her sister's tone became darker.

Looking back, Naruto had been affectionate in public. Hinata was the person she could remember best, as Naruto had been with her for longer, and whenever she saw them, they had been holding hands, or he had been holding her waist, at least during the first year of their relationship. Naruto had been in love with Hinata, though. He was only friends with Gaara, albeit with a lot of physical benefits.

A very bad feeling settled in her stomach.

"Gaara?" she looked at her sister again.

"It's nothing." she told her quietly, then walked back to their breakfast table. Temari followed her close, and both Naruto and Kankurou ran their eyes over her when she returned, as if making sure she hadn't acquired any wound on the way to the bathroom. She wasn't sure what to feel about their overprotection. She brushed it away.

Naruto caught a hold of her left hand as soon as she sat down, and her sister gave her a pointed look.

After breakfast, she asked to speak with Naruto in private before she left to deal with the world outside her family's living quarters. She turned on him as soon as she closed the door of her bedroom behind them.

"Are you in love with me?" the cornered look that took over Naruto's body language immediately was more than enough response for her. A satisfactory denial.

Before she could say anything, however, he composed himself and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Y-yes." her eyes narrowed.

"Why are you lying?" Naruto tensed and laughed nervously.

"L-lying? Me?" she only stared at him, until he sighed. "I... Well! You're going to be my wife, so I fully intend to fall in love with you. I just need a bit more time."

"...Naruto, no. Don't do that." he looked confused. "I don't want you to get more attached to me. Don't you start forcing yourself to." she pushed his hands away from her shoulders.

"Why not? If we're going to be together, and you love me, why don't you want me to love you?" by the way his eyes darkened as he asked her, she was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

It was a very hard answer to give, too. So, she didn't. "Just don't." she finished in a whisper. Naruto's expression became strained, and they were both in silence for a long time.

Naruto's eyes softened, then. She saw he was about to give her a hug, and she quickly dodged him. "I have a council meeting." she said quickly, striding out of the door.

Naruto rushed after her and grabbed her wrist. She froze, and waited for whatever he was going to say. But time passed, and he said nothing.

She heard a sigh come from his lips. He walked up to her and slid his hand down her wrist until he was holding her hand. "Lead the way." he prompted in fake cheerfulness.

She really should pull her hand away from his. She really should push him away.

She didn't.

* * *

Gaara had taken to wrapping a thick dark brown scarf around her stomach to muffle the light coming from it. It made her stomach look much bigger, her weight gain even more obvious. People weren't even trying to be subtle when they stared at her anymore.

Which was why she was surprised no one seemed to know she was pregnant.

"People don't know..." she murmured as she walked with her brother towards a council meeting Naruto wasn't allowed to attend. Kankurou glanced at her.

"Everyone who was there yesterday was sworn to secrecy." she frowned. She hadn't ordered that.

So, she wasn't surprised to learn it had been an order from the council of the elders.

"We've analyzed and discussed the proposal made by you and the Hokage this morning. By vote of majority, we accept your marriage and alliance contracts." Gaara could hear a 'but' there, so she sat patiently and said nothing. "We don't accept your request to give birth to your children in Konoha."

"Are you trying to kill her again?" Kankurou snapped loudly, slapping the table angrily. She reached over and held his wrist tightly, silently telling him to be quiet.

"You have statistics of infant mortality rate of Suna and Konoha, under the current circumstances. What was your decision based on?" she asked calmly, studying the representative they had chosen to speak their decision.

"You're our Kazekage. While you're suffering such a grave illness, we can't leave your treatment in the hands of another hidden village." Gaara wasn't surprised to hear that. "We can't leave your children there unattended in case of your death."

"Konoha are our allies. We should be able to trust them." It was Temari who argued, her voice also calm but firm.

"Not with the life of our Kazekage and his children." the man said firmly. "Unless this new alliance takes immediate effect, our alliance currently doesn't enable this sort of trust." Gaara's eyes narrowed.

In their marriage contract, Naruto and her had left clearly written that half of their children were going to be ninjas of Suna, and half of them would become ninjas of Konoha. Her council was aware she was expecting twins. If they were making such a demand, they were probably attempting to secure one of the twins for Suna.

She should have made a clause saying Naruto would keep them both in case of her death. Too late now – she needed to ask Temari to ensure no one would try to take Naruto's children away from him.

"So, you're saying you'll allow Gaara to go only if _she_ marries Naruto?" Kankurou asked with narrowed eyes, ignoring her grip on his wrist. It seemed he had taken the man's slip on her gender as more than a simple slip.

He was right. "Yes. That's another change we wish to make, the final contract drawn should state Kazekage-sama is male, and not female." Gaara tensed.

"Why? There's no longer a reason to keep this a secret, I have explained the initial circumstances of my deception yesterday." she had told them her father had been the one to ask her to uphold the lie, but she had never learned why before his death.

That caused nearly everyone to accept her deception, as she had expected – not because they respected her choice, but because they respected her father's judgment. They couldn't tell she was lying, because it had been Rasa who had registered her, and she would have been incapable of lying about her gender as an infant. None of them knew there had been an illusion over her that kept Rasa from knowing the truth.

She also told them her father no longer cared what she did after he began to send assassins after her, from there on out it became her choice. "I no longer wish to pretend to be a male."

"We have discussed this at length. Your chances of dying are high. In case of your death, letting all of Suna's people know of your real gender is unnecessary trouble."

Gaara pressed her lips into a thin line. That felt like a slap on the face. But it wasn't unexpected. There was a reason why she kept her secret for all these years.

"That's ridiculous!" Kankurou growled at her side.

"Very well, I'll change the contracts." she agreed. Kankurou's hand squeezed into a fist, she sent her brother a sharp glare.

"Gaa..." she cut through her brother's complaint.

"That's the most irrelevant detail in this discussion. More relevant is, once the marriage contract is signed, then I'll be allowed to give birth in Konoha?" she asked firmly.

"Yes. That's the agreement we have reached. Once the alliance is solidified, then you may go." Gaara's mind darkly changed the word 'go' for 'die' in her thoughts. She definitely needed to make sure both of her children would be safely in Naruto's guard.

She pulled on Kankurou's hand when she felt his arm begin to shake inside her grip.

"Since we are already taking precautions in case of my death, I will also make clear to this council who will succeed me as Kazekage." everyone looked alert at her as she removed from her pocket the official document she had made with her heir's name. She had taken hours to write it last night, because Naruto kept trying to stop her from doing it. "My heir will be my sister Temari. Through her marriage with Shikamaru Nara, she will uphold the alliance promised by my marriage with Naruto Uzumaki." she set down another marriage contract by it.

Temari looked at her with shock. She hadn't spoken with her sister yet – Naruto hadn't spoken with Shikamaru either. They didn't have any time. But her sister's marriage contract had already been drafted and corrected numerous times, and both Gaara and Naruto had the latest copy.

She would probably get an earful from Temari for making her Kazekage, but she doubted her sister would refuse.

"That's not the wisest choice, Kazekage-sama." one of the elders began. She cut through his words.

"But it's my choice. She will succeed me." she told them firmly. The only way for a Kazekage to be replaced by anyone other than their heir would be for this other person to win against the heir in a battle. Temari was one of the best ninja in Suna, and the few people who Gaara knew could best her wouldn't challenge her for the position, because they would respect Gaara's choice. "There's nothing else left but to wait the decision from Konoha's Council. This meeting is dismissed." she told them as she stood.


	7. Protective Instincts

**Author's Note:** This chapter was hard to revise. If I let any errors pass, specially regarding dates, I apologize.

It also became too big, but I didn't want to break it in two parts, specially since the second part was rushed through, as I didn't want to get into detail. Hospital scenes can get into the realm of TMI very quickly.

I'm trying to use a few aspects of Japan's culture and society, but I'll start to insert different things later – to separate Konoha and Suna a little more, culturally speaking.

* * *

 **Chapter 7: _Protective Instincts_**

"They refused again." she guessed when she saw Naruto's clone shake with anger by her window, without any apparent reason. He had been standing there for a while. She was sitting on her bed, exhausted but unable to sleep, trying to read while she was kept awake by her moving children. Their kicks were very painful at the moment.

"Screw them. Let's just elope." Naruto offered once again, as he had several times that day, since his council first refused their marriage. The sun had just set not long ago.

"No." she told him firmly.

With Temari and Shikamaru, it had always been the other way around. Suna's council were the most eager to refuse any offers, and Konoha reluctantly accepted several of the contracts. But it wasn't like she didn't understand – had she been in Naruto's council, she likely wouldn't accept his marriage, knowing that he had high chances of becoming a widower as soon as he married.

"Why not? We don't have time to waste on..." he began angrily.

"Going behind their backs now will only bring you grief later." she tried to reason with him.

"I'll deal with that later." she frowned.

"No. Sit, calm down and think it through. A single bad decision now would earn you their enmity for the rest of your rule." she stood from her bed and set the book she had been reading aside, walking up to him.

"They can hate me all they want! I..." Naruto choked on his words, surprise replacing the anger as he stared at her. Gaara looked down at her stomach, and when she realized something looked off, she carefully unwrapped it. She was relieved to see the lights were gone.

"The jutsu's finally over. It took over two days to fade." she rubbed her stomach. She felt weak movement from the babies, but they were likely beyond exhausted, they would probably sleep the whole night through today. That was good, maybe they would allow her to sleep tonight.

She really needed the sleep she was being deprived of for nearly three days. The lights had kept them awake, and their nearly constant and painful kicks were keeping her awake as well. The lack of sleep was affecting her mood, specially coupled with Naruto's impatience and Kankurou's anger with Suna's council for hiding her gender.

Kankurou was trying to convince them to accept Gaara's gender, and he was trying to convince her she should insist, or maybe just go behind their backs and declare herself a woman. But she didn't care if people knew at this point. The council was right – it would never matter to her, and it would likely cause a huge backlash she wouldn't even be alive to deal with.

"...Anyways. I don't care what they think of me. It's your health I'm worried with." Naruto's words were far more subdued as he turned away. She frowned, her heart getting heavier as she watched him turn away to avoid looking at her stomach.

Naruto hadn't touched her stomach even once since they left the hospital. It was unusual, and it was starting to worry her. "You're not blaming our children for my death, are you?" Naruto tensed. Her hands curled into fists. "Don't you dare, Naruto."

"No! First of all, you're not dead!" he said firmly, walking up to her and shaking her shoulders. "Stop acting like your death is a certainty! You're alive, and you're going to be fine."

"But if I do die, you'll blame them?" she studied him, eyes narrowed.

"Of course not." he looked away.

"You're lying." she pushed his hands away, angry.

"I'm not! I'm not going to blame them, it's not..." he exclaimed, frustrated. "It's not their fault!"

"Then why have you been acting so cold towards them?" he buried his fingers in his hair.

"I don't know. You're ill, and it's because... I don't want to make you feel used." her anger deflated so quickly it left her feeling hollow and even more exhausted.

"I don't feel used. I'll feel better knowing you'll love them, than thinking you're going to blame them for my death for the rest of their lives." she took his hands and placed them on her stomach. Naruto closed his eyes, pained.

"You're not dead, damn it." he growled, letting go of her stomach to hold her close. She tensed inside his arms. "You're not going to die. Stop trying to push me away."

"Stop trying to get closer to me. You're so stubborn!" she pushed him away, trying to get out of his embrace. Naruto just held her tighter.

"I'm the stubborn one?" he snorted. "You don't even listen to your siblings anymore."

She felt too weak, with all the stress and lack of sleep, and she was tired of pushing him away. She just sagged inside his arms. Naruto shifted his hold and held her closer, running his hand over her hair. She just wanted to sleep.

"We're..." Naruto began, but he interrupted himself with a sigh. "Never mind. They're quiet now, and you're tired. Let's go to sleep. We'll talk tomorrow."

"Don't be harsh, Naruto." she had meant to word it as a warning, but she just sounded weary.

"How can I be harsh, with you and Kakashi holding me by the ears?" Naruto muttered. She didn't say anything. "Come on. Time to sleep." he told her firmly, walking towards the bed and forcing her to walk along. She tensed once again.

"...You're not sleeping with me." she told him.

"Yes, I am. Get to it." Gaara grimaced, but she allowed him to push her until she was lying down. She tensed when he spooned her, but relaxed when he placed his hands on her stomach and started rubbing it. "Sleep." he whispered against her ear.

"I can't just fall asleep because you want me to." she muttered.

But now that she was comfortable in the bed, warm inside Naruto's arms, she felt the urge to sleep overcome her. She couldn't even understand Naruto's reply. When he realized she was nearly asleep, he created a clone to turn off the lights and cover them with a sheet.

She closed her eyes and listened to his breathing. Naruto wasn't saying a word – probably so he wouldn't keep her from sleep.

She was asleep in minutes. This time, no one woke her until she woke up by herself.

When she woke, she felt like she had overcompensated and she was fatigued from sleeping too much. She didn't want to get out of the bed, specially since Naruto was so warm. She loved it about him, she could never get enough of his warmth.

She turned around and buried her face against his chest. Naruto was awake, but he said nothing, and didn't try to tell her she should be awake. He only ran his fingers over her hair and let her be lazy.

"I told you no." she mumbled, after a long while. Naruto didn't even bother to answer her. She sighed and closed her eyes again.

She put off getting up so long that she ended falling asleep once again.

* * *

"She's still asleep?" she heard Temari whisper.

"You've just woken her." Naruto muttered back, sounding annoyed. She opened her eyes and glanced at her sister.

"Is something the matter?" her voice was slurred. "...I had a meeting, didn't I?" she remembered, bitting back a groan.

"That was hours ago. I took over for you, they had nothing important to say." Temari pursed her lips, looking annoyed by whatever her council had been up to. "But you have an appointment with Dr. Mieko in an hour." she started at her words.

Her medical appointment was scheduled for two in the afternoon. "It's already past noon?" she struggled to sit up. Naruto sat up and pulled her up with him.

"Yes. You need to eat something, you've already skipped breakfast." Temari watched her in concern. "You haven't eaten either, Naruto."

"Shadow clones don't need to eat." Gaara mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"But he isn't a shadow clone." she tensed and looked up. Naruto had a flush on his cheeks, and looked like a kid caught with his hand inside the cookie jar.

"How would you..." his eyes narrowed. "Shikamaru's a busybody." he finished with a mutter.

"Next time, tell your shadow clones to pretend they need to go to the toilet every once in a while." Temari told him with a raised eyebrow. Naruto huffed.

"You should be worried that your future husband is noticing how many times I go take a piss." he mumbled under his breath.

Temari didn't hear, because she was talking at the same time, "I brought some take out so you can both eat. Go to your appointment, then come home and rest. I've taken your workload for today, I'm already delegating all my duties so I can cover for you during your maternity leave."

"Thank you, Temari." she said in a tired voice, bowing her head to her sister. Temari offered her a small smile. She placed the food on the small table she had near her window.

"Kankurou and I have everything under control. Just worry about getting better soon, alright?" she hesitantly nodded.

Once her sister was gone, she turned and glared at Naruto. She could see the bags under his eyes as he scratched his head and offered her a sheepish smile. He looked so sad and exhausted.

"...At least you should have slept." she ground out, instead of saying anything else that could cause them to fight. She didn't want to argue with him anymore. "You didn't even eat anything last night."

"I got a kind-of-bread-thing in the market yesterday. It tasted weird, but it filled me up." he shrugged.

"Did you have breakfast?" she stood up slowly, because she was feeling dizzy.

"No. I didn't want to wake you up. You really needed that sleep." Gaara sighed and rubbed her face.

"You can use my toothbrush if you want. I doubt we have any extra around." she muttered, then left to wash her face.

He followed her. "What happened to not getting closer?" he teased. She didn't say anything to him.

* * *

"Kazekage-sama, I'm not sure I made it clear how important it is that we induce you soon." it was one of the first things Dr. Mieko said to her after examining her.

"Yes, you have. But I'm sure I made it clear I'm not risking my children's lives. As soon as I can go to Konoha, you can induce labor." she told her firmly.

"If you want to be treated in Konoha, you should go soon. You should have already left, it'll take almost a week for you to arrive at a reasonable pace." Dr. Mieko admonished.

"I can't leave yet. If I leave as it is, I might be accused of abandoning Suna. So we need to wait." the doctor pressed her lips, but at least she seemed to understand the problem this time. "Have I gotten worse?"

"Yes. Luckily, your children are still unaffected, except in the fact they're a bit small for their gestational age." Naruto was still uncharacteristically silent by their side, but she felt him tense at the doctor's words. "But you're not healing yourself as well as you were before. That might indicate some strain I'm unable to detect."

"If she's just not healing herself, will she be alright if I heal her?" Naruto asked, breaking his self-imposed silence.

"The problem lies on the reason she isn't healing herself as well as before. Her chakra pathways are probably getting more damaged, that's something we can't easily detect. Chakra circulatory system failure is fatal, and if she miraculously survives it, she'll lose her ability to mold chakra." Gaara went cold at her words. If she survived, but was forced to become a civilian, what was she going to do with her life?

...At least a forced retirement would solve very nicely the logistic arguments that would no doubt start once Naruto and her were married. They would just stay in Konoha permanently.

That wasn't a cheerful thought.

"The longer we wait, the more likely some of this damage might become permanent." the doctor insisted, once she realized Gaara was concerned by her words. "You might become weaker, or your chakra control might become permanently flawed. You need to go to Konoha soon."

"This is out of our control." she told her grimly. Naruto sent her a look, but he said nothing – he was probably avoiding an argument with her. It was nice to know he was as sick of them as she was. "We're doing our best to rush the process along."

"Yes. I'll rush things along." Naruto agreed cheerfully. "I'll have Gaara there by the end of the week." She shot him a wary look.

"Traveling at a punishing pace will only worsen her health." Dr. Mieko shook her head. "She can't use her chakra to travel. In fact, Kazekage-sama, you need to stop using your chakra at all. Not even to jump, or climb places. You should stop carrying sand around." Gaara frowned.

"My shield is unconscious, and the sand follows me, whether I'm carrying it or not." she explained with a shake of her head.

"...Well, limit its use the most you can, then. Don't get yourself in dangerous situations. Don't make use of it consciously. The least you use your chakra, the slower the disease will progress." that meant she couldn't use her armor anymore.

She wearily nodded. Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. "I have a way of getting her there quickly without straining her. Don't worry, she'll be in Konoha before the week ends. That's a promise." Gaara tensed.

Naruto raised hell and moved mountains to keep promises. She wasn't sure she was happy with him for essentially telling her he was going to go over his council's decisions if he couldn't convince them. It definitely didn't bode well for the start of his rule as Hokage.

* * *

That night, she slept inside his arms again. She even allowed him to kiss her, and kissed him back. She spent a long time listening to his breath as he slept, feeling guilt eat at her for giving in to his insistence to hold her close.

She didn't want Naruto to get hurt. Naruto was a stubborn mule, though – he had always been. It was one of the defects that made him into the man she admired, but at the moment, she despaired of it.

The babies were moving too much, and even if she could sleep through a kick or another every once in a while, she couldn't sleep through that. They had already regained their energy from the scare – she was thankful for that.

Eventually, they quieted down and she managed to sleep.

She woke up to Naruto pulling her shirt up, and watched him askance as he stared down at her naked stomach. "Naruto? What..."

"Sh. Look." Naruto whispered. She hesitantly looked down, but she didn't understand what he was seeing of unusual. After several seconds, Naruto pouted. "Aw, your voice must have scared her." he mumbled, fondly rubbing her stomach.

Gaara felt relief wash over her and relaxed as she saw the fond look on Naruto's face. So, he was finally over whatever the reason he had been avoiding her stomach. He had probably seen the baby move, she had been seeing it lately, the subtle rise of the skin when a baby kicked.

She felt a strong kick, and Naruto was delighted. "Look!" her eyes widened as she saw her skin move with the baby's movement, and a sizable bump appear at the top of her stomach. Much bigger and glaringly obvious compared to what she had seen before. Naruto reached out and grabbed whatever appendage their child was trying to poke out of her stomach. The baby kicked out, and the very shape of her stomach once again changed for a few seconds.

"Does it hurt?" Naruto wondered as she grimaced.

"...No. It's just creepy." she muttered. "I can barely feel it, it's probably kicking its sibling to get leverage instead of me." Naruto laughed.

"Poor kid. It looks like we're looking forward to a little Taijutsu Master. Bushy brows will be delighted." that called her attention.

"...does he know?" she asked quietly, wondering what Rock Lee thought of the fact she was a woman. She didn't speak with him as often as she spoke with Naruto, and it had been over four months since she had sent her last, unanswered letter, but she valued her friendship with him very highly.

"Hm..." Naruto shook his head. "Rock Lee left on a sudden training trip, back in mid August, he's scheduled to return by the end of February." Gaara was startled at hearing that – he hadn't said anything about it. She had assumed he was in a mission last time she visited Konoha, over a month ago, at the beginning of November. Naruto grinned. "I know, suspicious, isn't it? He looked like he was trying to run away from something, but Kakashi let him go anyway. Tenten keeps coming into my office to ask how he's doing, because apparently he isn't sending letters to anyone but the compulsory updates."

Gaara was concerned. "Is he alright, I wonder..."

"Well, I suppose you're his friend, so it's okay for you to know. From what I got off Tenten, it seems a woman rejected him." Naruto's smile was subdued as he offered.

"...Oh." she felt disheartened for him. At least training must be distracting him from the heartbreak – he wasn't the kind of man to go after his friends for comfort when he needed it.

"But other than my council, Tsunade and Kakashi, I haven't told anyone anything about you. I can help you tell people if you want, but I thought that's something you should do." Naruto said almost absently, far more interested in her moving stomach. He poked her again, and their child responded by shoving harder against her skin.

"Hm. I think the twins shifted places... That's probably why they were moving so much last night" The twin that was making her stomach deform with its movements was probably the one making her feel pain by kicking her internal organs before. It was the culprit keeping her awake at night when they were both shining – but its kicks didn't hurt anywhere as much now, as bad as they looked.

"She's eager to come out. We've got to teach her that's not the right way out." Naruto giggled. Gaara blanched, not at all amused with his joke.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you were in my place." she muttered, feeling sick.

"Aw. I'll stop, I'll stop." Naruto leaned in and kissed her lips. She accepted his kiss, but he didn't look sorry at all, still grinning in amusement as he watched his child move. That was definitely a mini Naruto in there.

When the other twin moved, it was far more subdued. She didn't feel pain, though she could tell it had moved. "They definitely changed places. I hope they stay like this, it doesn't hurt nearly as much." she sighed.

Naruto laughed. She pursed her lips. "Must be tough to be a mom." this time he did sound apologetic. Her expression softened. "...I guess your council's plan to hide your pregnancy just went out the window. Unless they find a really good explanation for this."

Gaara groaned. "...Don't say that..." she was already getting grief for not managing to hide her stomach anymore, she was probably going to be forced to lock herself inside her quarters if the baby continued to move like that.

The baby had stopped moving, but when Naruto poked it, it kicked out, and the bump on her stomach remained for far longer than a few seconds. She rubbed it until the baby relieved the pressure and her stomach once again looked normal.

She should probably warn Naruto off, but she was so relieved that Naruto was happy with their baby once again that she allowed him to play with her belly to his heart's content.

She only stood off the bed once the baby was too tired to react to Naruto's goading anymore. "Let it sleep a little, you can play again later." she murmured, then she stretched to try and relieve her back pain.

"Okay, mommy." Naruto agreed cheerfully, standing up and kissing her again.

This time, the kiss became far from chaste. She was breathless once they parted, "I have a meeting." she mumbled, but she didn't move to walk away from him.

Naruto noted it, and he seemed even happier than before. "So do I. I'm going to do some stuff while you're busy, I'll come back for you later." he pecked her lips once again before he disappeared.

She stood there, silent, for a few seconds. Then, she sighed and left to get ready for her day, trying not to feel lonely without Naruto after a few days of having him always by her side at the moments she was supposed to be alone.

* * *

Two days later, she wasn't feeling any worse than she had been even a week before.

If not for the whole fiasco with the Uzushio ninjas, she wouldn't even know there was anything wrong with her health. Her doctor still told her – daily – that she was playing with fire by 'allowing' the time to pass.

She wasn't allowing anything. She felt so stressed that she had given in to Naruto's insistence and just let him comfort her. He healed her everyday, too, because she was still not healing herself like before.

Something she hadn't known, doctors measured pregnancy in lunar months, so all their 'months' had twenty-eight days. That meant she was actually eight and a half months along, and not seven and a half as counted in normal months.

That extra month gave her children over ninety percent chance of living in Suna, and about ninety-five percent chance of living in Konoha – both lower than normal because of her condition. The difference between Suna and Konoha's statistics was only abysmal at the earliest months.

Nine months was a turning point for her, because a woman's chakra was the most unstable on the last four weeks of pregnancy, and each day after that her chances of having a complication – of giving birth to stillborn children – would increase. Her chances of remaining alive would also decrease each day – her current living chances were higher, they were actually eighty-five percent at the moment, but the average survivability was dragged down by women who only gave birth next to the tenth month.

In Suna, her living chances were the same, but they would drop to zero on the last week of her pregnancy, and that dragged down their average lower than Konoha's, as women there still had over thirty-five percent chances of survival if they gave birth on their due date, at the exact tenth month mark. She didn't understand why the doctors were so hesitant to give her the numbers earlier – Dr. Mieko still acted suspiciously, refusing to answer some of her questions. That made her believe her treatment wasn't as straightforward as they were trying to make her think.

She could easily accept induction in Suna, considering these changes of circumstances, but now she was afraid Naruto would be unable to get their children away from Suna in case of her death. She wanted him to raise them, and not whoever the council thought was best. They were his children.

She was getting ready to sleep that night when Naruto suddenly exclaimed, startling her.

"Gaara!" He had been sitting by her window, staring at the darkening sky in an odd silence that she had taken to mean he was communicating with one of his clones.

"What?" she asked, walking up to him. Her eyes widened when he ran up to her and lifted her off her feet spontaneously.

"Konoha council's accepted the contract. We're getting married tomorrow!" he announced cheerfully. She was surprised, but she remembered well his promise. She wondered how much grief he had put his council through to get that victory.

"Oh." the word was barely past her lips before Naruto kissed them. Gaara kissed him back hesitantly.

"You're not happy?" Naruto asked breathlessly as they parted. Gaara licked her lips.

"Naruto..." he frowned at her tone.

"You're not going to ask me to stop getting attached to you again, are you?" he pulled her into his arms. Gaara sighed and held him back, moving until her stomach was somewhat accommodated between them.

"Are you going to listen if I ask?" she asked in a murmur.

"No." his voice was firm. "I thought we were past that."

"Naru..." her words were cut off as Naruto placed a finger over her lips.

"Stop." Naruto took a deep breath. "Listen, Gaara, you don't have to worry. If you... If you die, I'll crash, I'll cry and I'll grieve you. But I will still be alive to gather the pieces and move on. I'll be fine. You... If you die, this is all the chance you will ever have to experience this. So let me love you. Let me be a good partner to you. Please." Gaara squeezed her eyes shut, feeling them burn with unshed tears when she heard his voice crack from his pain.

"Very well." she whispered so gently that, for once, she sounded like a woman. Naruto's hug became so strong it felt painful, but she didn't complain.

"Good!" Naruto's voice was also somewhat high pitched. "We'll get married tomorrow morning, and I'll take you to Konoha. We already have a medical team ready, and like you asked, Dr. Himi will share her leading duties with Dr. Mieko."

"Okay." she agreed. Before she could say anything else, an yawn interrupted her.

Naruto offered her a sad smile. "Let's sleep. You need rest."

"It feels like sleeping is the only thing I do any more..." she muttered. For someone who had been used to sleeping five hours every couple of days, sleeping eight hours per day felt like a waste of time. Naruto chuckled weakly.

"Come on. We'll have plenty of sleepless nights in a bit if our babies inherit your insomnia." Naruto joked.

His words left a heavy feeling in her chest when she realized that that was it. If they were getting married tomorrow, the day after tomorrow they would induce her. Natural labor would put a lot of strain on both her heart and her chakra, there was a real chance she wouldn't survive, even with her raised odds. She knew Naruto hoped she wouldn't die, but if she was truthful with herself, she didn't expect to leave the experience alive. A sense of foreboding had settled in her chest since the day she had learned she was ill.

"Gaara? You don't look well, are you okay?" she looked up at Naruto.

"I... I'm just feeling nausea." her tone was dismissive, but Naruto still was worried.

"Should I take you to the hospital?" She scoffed, and offered him a faint smile.

"Stop freaking out and hold me." she pulled him by the hand towards her bed.

Naruto spooned her, as it was the most comfortable position for them to lie in each other's arms. She loved being held by him. It was a bit surprising that he didn't toss and turn at night, when he was holding her. She settled against him and closed her eyes.

"What do you think we'll get? A boy and a girl?" Naruto wondered, caressing her stomach. Gaara hummed.

"I hope not. We would do a terrible job raising a girl." As it was, they were both very much men, even if she was born with the body of a woman. Gaara was terrible at being a woman.

"Rubbish. Any woman you raise will be an awesome woman. I hope at least one of them is a little girl." Naruto confided.

"Is that why you keep calling it 'her'?" Naruto only hummed by her ear, but she guessed he was agreeing.

"I'm going to buy her tons of pretty, orange dresses." he continued, as if she hadn't said anything.

"People would know she was your daughter from miles away. You wouldn't want that." she remarked, but there was a smile on her lips.

"I'm going to get her an orange coat written 'The Eight Hokage' so people will be sure." he rubbed her stomach when the baby began to move, trying to soothe it so she could sleep.

"Sweet dreams, Naruto." she said quietly, feeling sleep coming.

"Dream of our daughter." Naruto whispered by her ear, and she fell asleep smiling.

* * *

Their marriage was nothing more than a council meeting. Naruto and Gaara had worn their office's formal robes and signed the contract in front of her whole council, and after a somewhat lengthy meeting, Naruto had taken her, her sister and Dr. Mieko back to Konoha with him, leaving a clone behind to keep them updated. Kankurou was left as the standing Kage while Temari was with her.

They repeated the process of the marriage signing in Konoha, and this time Sakura, Kakashi, Tsunade and Hinata had been standing there, supportive of Naruto. She wasn't bothered by the lack of ceremony, but he was, and he had promised her they would have a proper ceremony once their babies were older and she was feeling better.

She had expected the doctors to give Naruto and her some time to be together, but she left the Hokage tower straight to Konoha's General Hospital, and in less than a hour she was connected to several tubes and wires, forced to stay in place so they could monitor her and the babies. She was wearing loose clothing that accommodated the devices – Hinata had the foresight to buy her maternity pajamas that consisted of a very loose shirt that opened in the front and a wide, long skirt. They were very comfortable, too.

Her gourd had dissolved by her feet and was in constant state of unrest. She was coming to learn her shield acted out when she was around most doctors who came to examine her – Dr. Mieko, Tsunade and Sakura were the only exceptions so far. It acted specially vicious around Dr. Himi, because Gaara disliked her, and she didn't seem to enjoy Gaara's company very much, either.

At some point, one of the nurses came to remove the belt they had wrapped around her stomach to monitor the babies. Dr. Mieko arrived soon after he left, wheeling in a machine of some sort. "I'm going to take a look at you to see if there's something wrong we might be missing with the usual scans."

Naruto stood and looked at the machine curiously. "What's that?"

"An ultrasound machine. It's not often used, because chakra exams are more throughout and accurate, but we will be able to see their size and how they're positioned, as well as a few other things. Are you wearing your sand armor, Kazekage-sama?"

"No." she replied quietly. The doctor covered her lap with a folded cloth.

"Lift up your shirt, then, to expose your stomach." Gaara silently complied as she started turning on the machine she had brought. She returned and spread a warm gel on her stomach, then pressed a device against it.

She did the exam and they remained in silence for several minutes. Until Naruto interrupted her. "Wait. Is that the baby?" he asked, awed. Gaara turned her head to the side, but she couldn't see what Naruto was seeing.

"Yes. It's one of the twin's head. It's already in the right position for birth." Naruto's eyes widened.

Dr. Mieko typed something in, then turned the screen around so the three of them could see it and moved the wand. In the screen, in shades of red and cream and with little detail, was the clear outline of an infant. He had his fists cradling his temples, and was loosely curled up. "It's a boy." Gaara murmured, her eyes wide.

"Eh? How can you tell?" Naruto squinted.

"Look between his legs." she pointed out, and Naruto's eyes widened. The baby shifted, and then they couldn't see his sexual organs anymore. She felt him move even as she saw it – he was the twin that moved so much that he changed her stomach's shape.

"Let's find his twin." the doctor moved the wand, and while she focused the image, Gaara could actually see the child's internal organs, the beating heart. When there was just the outline once again, the other baby was curled up tighter, sucking on its thumb. She couldn't see anything at first, but the doctor moved the device until they saw it was another boy. "Two boys. Thankfully, they're both well positioned."

Naruto made an indistinguishable sound by her side, awed. The doctor let him stare at the screen for a while, the baby seemed asleep. He was moving a little every once in a while, but she couldn't really feel it. Dr. Mieko turned the machine off and cleaned her stomach. "That's it. We'll return to examine you when we need to change your medicine, in about six hours."

Gaara didn't ask if there was anything wrong. She could read the doctor enough to know there was, but Naruto hadn't really been paying attention, he had been watching the screen. She just asked. "Are they healthy?"

"Yes, Kazekage-sama. A chakra exam can tell us that better, they're very healthy." she sounded sincere. Gaara relaxed.

As soon as the doctor left, Naruto squeezed her hand. "So, two boys. What are we naming them?" she glanced at him in silence. "I want you to give them both names."

"...I don't know." she murmured. Naruto grinned.

"Well, think about it, then!" she didn't want to name them, but she hesitantly nodded. Maybe Naruto would forget about it later.

The minutes went by fast. She was tired of lying down, and her back hurt because she couldn't stand and walk around due to all the wires, but she felt none of the symptoms she had read that she should expect during labor. She only felt tired and listless after an hour had gone by.

Naruto didn't leave her side once. He was talking with her, even when she stopped paying attention to him. She told him his voice soothed her, and he was more than happy to hold a monologue for her.

She started feeling a strange feeling she couldn't describe all over her body as she watched Naruto caress her hand. It wasn't pleasant, but she couldn't describe it as pain, either.

"Gaara-sama?" she started, and looked up to see Dr. Mieko watching her in concern. Dr. Himi stood just behind her, a stern expression on her face. She hadn't even noticed them walking into the room.

"It's already been six hours?" her voice sounded slurred. Naruto squeezed her hand, and she glanced at him, concerned to see him looking anxious.

"Less than two. You're not responding well to this treatment. We'll have to try something else." Dr. Mieko explained patiently.

"She'll keep burning through anything we inject in her bloodstream." Dr. Himi shook her head. "We should try topic application."

"Her shield doesn't allow internal intervention." Dr. Mieko responded quietly.

"She can rub the gel in, herself. If no one else, Hokage-sama clearly has access into her vagina." Naruto choked by her side. Gaara blinked.

"Shouldn't we wait until her chakra is once again stable?" Dr. Mieko wondered.

"No. This will take too long as it is, she should be fully recovered by the onset of labor." Dr. Himi disagreed. "Kazekage-sama, can you understand us?" she asked sharply.

Gaara could, but she didn't respond immediately. The doctor didn't wait even two seconds before turning to Naruto. "Hokage-sama, she's too out of it. You'll have to rub the gel inside her."

Naruto shrunk into the chair by her side. "I can do it." she slurred after a few seconds, when Naruto said nothing.

Dr. Mieko leaned in, staring into her eyes. "We should allow her to recover before trying anything else. I'm worried about her slow responses." it sounded more like a decision rather than a suggestion. She placed her hands on her temples and Gaara closed her eyes as the doctor soothed a headache she hadn't even realized she was feeling.

"If we pause at every failed procedure, she'll reach her due date before she gives birth." Dr. Himi didn't sound very happy.

"We should try manual dilation first. Her chakra won't be able to fight that." Dr. Mieko suggested.

She was wrong.

Three hours later, Gaara was on antibiotics because her sand had involuntarily gone up her birth canal to push out the stick they asked her to put inside. The doctors made sure to sterilize all of her sand once they had cleaned and medicated her.

The sand was hissing by their feet as Dr. Mieko examined her. "She's clean." she announced, turning off the antibiotics drip.

"Good. We're going to try chakra induction now." Dr. Mieko stepped away from Gaara, looking unhappy, but saying nothing at all as Dr. Himi walked up to her and continued to explain, "The procedure's a little painful, but your body's leaving us no alternative."

"You say that as if it's my fault." she couldn't help but retort, her eyes narrowed. She had already recovered her attention, and she was far more alert when the doctor placed her hands on her naked stomach.

Dr. Himi made to say something, but she glanced towards Naruto, and whatever she saw there made her quickly lower her eyes and shut her mouth. Gaara turned to the side so she could see him. Naruto's expression was deceptively calm, almost blank, but he smiled at her when their eyes met, squeezing her hand which he had been holding for a while.

"Take a deep breath and relax." Dr. Himi instructed her. Gaara took a deep breath, but she tensed when the doctor's hands started to shine and she felt a sharp pain on her navel. Her shield immediately shoved the doctor away, and her ninja reflexes were the only reason she remained on her feet.

"I couldn't stop that." she explained before the doctor told her to control herself once again. She was far from apologetic – Dr. Himi was rubbing her the wrong way. Gaara only truly felt sorry for the bruise her sand had left on Dr. Mieko's arm earlier.

"You'll have to try harder than that." Dr. Himi said sternly. "If you're not ready to take this seriously..."

"Maybe I could try it. Her shield's response has been less violent against me." Dr. Mieko quickly interrupted, walking up to Gaara and placing her hands on her stomach.

The pain she felt was nowhere as strong – it was a faint throbbing – and this time her sand only pushed the doctor's hands away instead of shoving her whole body back. She fought against it, until the doctor was able to rest her hands on her stomach once again with only a layer of sand between their skins, and the procedure once again took effect.

Gaara was only able to maintain control for a minute, then Dr. Mieko jumped back to keep herself from being shoved away. Gaara's shield retained an alert appearance, floating in the air between them. Gaara pressed her lips.

"You're too stressed, Kazekage-sama. You should rest, we will attempt this again tomorrow." She concluded with a shake of her head.

Dr. Himi didn't look happy with her decision. They didn't argue in front of her, but she was sure they would argue once they left.

That was why she wasn't surprised when Dr. Himi returned two hours later, after they had had dinner. "We'll start you on another medicine overnight. We won't come into the room so you'll have the opportunity to sleep, but that means we'll have to keep more monitors on you for the night. If you feel anything unusual, press the nurse call button."

She silently agreed, though she inwardly wished they would just let her sleep. Not that she thought she would be able to sleep – she felt a little jittery tonight.

The two night nurses came in and placed more monitors on her temples and her hand, and the sash that had been on her stomach earlier was once again wrapped around her. She couldn't stand up without dislodging all the wires – even lying down was uncomfortable. Specially when the nebulizer mask was placed on her face, and she couldn't even turn on her side without feeling uncomfortable.

"Be careful not to dislodge the mask during the night. I'll leave you to your rest. You should leave too, Hokage-sama, visiting hours were over a long time ago." the doctor looked towards Naruto. Gaara suddenly felt vulnerable, and she glanced at him.

"I'm staying here tonight." Naruto's tone of voice brooked no argument.

"She'll be more comfortable if she has quiet and peace." Dr. Himi tried to argue. Naruto turned towards Gaara, as if gauging whether the doctor was right, then turned towards her again.

"That's too bad. She already looks uncomfortable enough, a little more discomfort won't really matter. Right, Gaara?" she gave him a faint smile when he weakly smiled at her.

"Hokage-sama. I can't force you to leave, but..." the doctor began, but Naruto interrupted her.

"Then you can't force me to leave. Save your energies. Goodnight, doctor." Naruto nodded to her. She pursed her lips.

"Goodnight, Hokage-sama." she nodded tightly, then left them on their own.

"You should go home and rest, Naruto." Gaara told him once they were alone.

"I don't need to be home to rest, I can rest here." Naruto told her. "I don't know why you even want me to leave, but I'll warn you now you it won't be easy to convince me." Gaara only sighed.

"Sleeping on a chair isn't comfortable." she pointed out quietly. Naruto grinned.

"And who told you I'll sleep on a chair? That bed looks big enough for all four of us." Gaara studied him silently. Then, she sighed and turned on her side, scooting over so he could lie by her.

"Come here, then." she invited softly. Naruto grinned.

"Let me put on some pajamas first. I'll be right back." he kissed her cheek, then walked into the small adjacent bathroom.

"...You have pajamas here? You were planning on sleeping here all along?"

"Of course. Even if the boys were nice with us and came today, you would be still stuck here, and I wasn't about to leave the three of you alone." she felt calmer at his words.

"I think the doctors would have a lot more to complain about if you tried to stay in the NICU by their side."

"They can complain all they want. I doubt they'll even be able to find my clone there." a small smile curved Gaara's lips.

* * *

Six hours later, Naruto was sound asleep holding her, but Gaara was still wide awake.

Whatever the new medicine was doing to her, it had very successfully removed her ability to sleep. At least Naruto was comfortable, and as she listened to his calm breath and heartbeat, she could ignore all the pains that were gradually worsening.

Gaara glanced up when the door clicked open, to see a nurse peek into the room cautiously. When she saw Gaara was awake, she waved and walked up to her. Gaara found it strange, considering Dr. Himi had said no one would come check on her tonight.

"Good night, Kazekage-sama. Having trouble falling asleep?" she whispered, attempting to keep Naruto from waking. It was pointless, Naruto had jolted awake as soon as the door had opened, he was just pretending to sleep.

"I'm not used to pain." she explained quietly. The nurse looked sympathetic.

"Contractions are terrible. Are you feeling anything other than that?" Gaara watched her attentively.

There was something wrong. She wasn't feeling malice from the woman, and neither was her sand, but there was something off with her. After watching her for a few seconds, Gaara concluded she seemed nervous for some reason.

"...I'm feeling a lot of pains, some headache, some nausea." she reported slowly. From what she had read about, contractions weren't amongst what she was feeling. The nurse's eyes flickered to the monitor, and Gaara glanced over her shoulder at it almost reflexively. She started when she saw some of the previous blue numbers looked alarmingly red. Just as she did, her heartbeat, which had been blue, went up in a few seconds and looked bright red as well. The nurse let out a sigh and reached to flick the room's light on.

"Please don't panic. Your doctor has already been summoned, I came here to wake you up more gently." she explained, doing something to the IV line that made it stop dripping so she could inject something else inside the line. Whatever that medicine was, it made her feel extremely ill.

"I... I don't feel well." she panted. The woman quickly grabbed a bucket from the floor and held it up.

"If you feel the need..." Gaara sat up quickly and grabbed the bucket, tearing the mask away from her face. Naruto was up in an instant by her side as she began to heave.

"What did you give her?" Naruto demanded.

"This has been prescribed to control her high blood pressure. Sometimes, it does cause some nausea." Naruto squeezed her shoulder, then glanced at the monitor.

Another nurse rushed into the room seconds later, and the doctor Gaara brought from Suna was hot on her heels.

Gaara couldn't focus on what they were saying. Her ears were ringing, there were black spots swimming in her vision. She felt Naruto squeeze her hand, and then she was being forced to lie down. When she was able to focus again, her doctor had her shining hands over her chest.

Naruto was staring down at her, his face pale.

"Everything is under control now." the doctor said calmly, but Gaara could tell she was nervous.

"Should we keep her on the hormones?" the first nurse inquired.

"Yes, I've already healed her. Call me again if her condition changes." despite her words, she didn't leave. She helped Gaara wear the mask once again, then she rested her hands on Gaara's lower abdomen and began to examine her. She looked even more worried.

She left with the nurses, giving them both other instructions as they walked away.

"Gaara, are you alright?" Naruto's voice shook.

"Yes. I'm fine now." she tried to reassure him, but her own voice was shaking. She was feeling weak. Naruto didn't believe her words.

"Do you want to try and sleep a little?" she nodded silently. Naruto laid down again and pulled her into his arms.

This time, neither of them fell asleep. He held her silently, caressing her hair. After half an hour, he whispered, "Can't sleep?"

"No." she whispered back.

"Do you want me to heal you?" Naruto asked softly. Her doctors had clearly told him not to heal her in any circumstances earlier. Gaara hesitated, then shook her head.

"No. I'll be fine." Naruto sighed loudly, but didn't say anything.

He didn't fall asleep again, but he remained quiet for the rest of the night to give her the chance to sleep. Sometimes he would ask her how she was feeling, but he stopped doing that when she closed her eyes and evened her breathing.

At least until morning came. He had left to go to the bathroom, and then he opened the curtains to let the light of the rising sun in. When he returned to her side, he took in a sharp intake of breath. "Gaara?"

"What?" she asked, startled by his tone of voice, looking into his eyes. Naruto looked even more horrified, he reached over and slapped the nurse call button. Gaara watched him in alarm. "Naruto, what's it?" she glanced at the machine that was monitoring her vital signs, and nothing was red like it had been during the night. The digits looked blurry, no matter how much she blinked.

"You're... You look bad." Naruto stuttered, taking her hand and lifting it up into her line of sight. She glanced at it, but she couldn't see what Naruto was seeing past the blur and black spots in her vision.

The nurse that came in was still the night nurse – one of the few her sand didn't act out around. "Is something the matter?"

"Something's wrong with her." the nurse came up to her and examined her eyes.

Then, she placed a hand on her side, right on the place where she had been in the most pain all night. "Are you feeling pain here?"

"Yes." she agreed.

"I'm going to contact your doctor. Don't worry." she said in a soothing voice.

"But what's this?" Naruto demanded.

"Jaundice, likely caused by problems in the liver. Your doctor will check on it." She fiddled with something on the machine, then left the room.

Gaara struggled to sit up, then looked at her arms again, trying to see what was wrong. "You're squinting." Naruto noted shakily. Gaara looked up at him, silent. "You're having trouble with your eyes?" she hesitantly nodded.

She could see the wheels inside Naruto's head turn as he stared at her. She started when he suddenly began to shine gold, after communing with Kurama. "Naruto! Don't..."

"I'm not letting them kill you just because...!" he began angrily, but was interrupted by the opening of the door. Her doctors were there, and Tsunade was with them. Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"Did you heal her, Naruto?" she demanded.

"No, but I'm going to. Look at..." his sentence was interrupted by a squeak when Tsunade slapped the back of his head.

"We need to know what's happening, we can't tell if you heal everything before we see it, idiot." Tsunade turned at her and narrowed her eyes. "Jaundice."

"She can't see well, either." Naruto told her.

Dr. Himi walked up to Gaara and rested her hands on Gaara's stomach. "You're not dilated, and you're not having contractions. Did you remove the mask during the night?"

"No." the doctor pressed her lips and nodded. By her expression, she didn't believe Gaara, but she probably didn't dare antagonize her in front of Naruto.

All three doctors silently examined her. Gaara wasn't sure why Tsunade was there, but both doctors seemed to respect her lead, and under her charge they were both silent. They didn't discuss anything of their exams in front of them.

"We will be back in a few minutes." Tsunade told them – they probably wanted to talk on their own.

"You've seen what you wanted to see, can I heal her now?" Naruto demanded. Tsunade sighed.

"Do that, brat. She'll look yellow for a while, even after she's healed." with those words, they left the room.

Naruto sat by her side and cupped her temples, looking her in the eyes. She relaxed when his touch began to soothe her pains slowly at first, and then they suddenly just disappeared.

"Is your vision working now?" Naruto asked once he backed away. She glanced at her arm, and started when she saw her skin looked yellow.

"Yes. My headache stopped, too." Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"You didn't tell them you had a headache." at his words, a clone of his materialized in the air and left the room. "What else didn't you tell them?"

Gaara licked her lips. "I'm not hiding anything. I'm just feeling tired. It's been a long time since I spent the night awake without consequences." she explained softly. Naruto sighed and caressed her forehead.

Nurse Kaede knocked on the door, then walked in with a tray. "Time for breakfast." Gaara grimaced. She didn't think she could stomach anything.

At least the food was bland, and there wasn't much of it. She had heard Dr. Himi, as well as several of the nurses, complain that she was overweight – she had likely been put on a diet. She picked on the food slowly and tried to push some of it on Naruto, but he refused and forced her to eat until most of the food was gone. Only then she put on the mask once again and laid down on her back.

"If you start feeling pain, you should warn me." Naruto ran his hand over her hair. She closed her eyes.

"Women in labor are supposed..." she began, but he interrupted her.

"Don't finish that sentence. You know as well as I do that really hasn't worked for you so far." Gaara grimaced. "You haven't moved from this bed since they stuck all these wires on you. Don't you need to go?" Naruto glanced at the closed bathroom door.

"No." she responded quietly, feeling a little surprised herself. Naruto frowned.

"Are you sure? Is that supposed to be normal?" she shrugged, uncomfortable. Naruto sighed and ran his hand over his hair. "Never mind."

He walked up to her and settled on the chair by her bed side, the same place he had taken residence in since they had been led into that room.

"You should go to the hospital's restaurant. Skipping meals isn't good for you." Naruto waved her off.

"I'll have a clone bring something later. I'm not really hungry right now." she frowned, but accepted his words.

A knock on the door sounded about fifteen minutes later. She was curious, because none of the doctors would knock, and she had no idea who could be by the door. "Come in." he called.

"Hey, Naruto. I brought you food." It was Sakura. He gladly accepted the sandwich she had wrapped up for him, despite his earlier claim that he hadn't been hungry. "You okay?" she wondered, looking between Naruto and her, and doing a double take, probably because of the color of her skin.

Naruto didn't look well at all. He was still frightened from earlier, she doubted he had gotten a restful night.

"The medicine to induce labor doesn't seem to be working." she told her with a shake of her head.

"It nearly killed her, instead. Several times." Naruto waved towards her. Sakura walked up to her and touched her side, where she had been feeling pain before, and her hand began to shine. "I've already cured her. But, still..."

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "You cured her? Are you sure?" she asked slowly.

In an instant, Naruto was by their side, his skin once again shining golden. Once again, Naruto used his chakra on her, and she was worried about the blank look on his face.

As soon as he was done curing her again, he reached up and tore the IV tube off the medicine bag, then the tube that connected her mask to the oxygen. "Naruto!" Sakura cried out, and quickly reached out to close the tubes attached to her arm, then the oxygen outlet. The blood that had started leaking into the torn canula froze in place. "Are you crazy!?"

"Yes, I'm crazy, and those doctors know shit about what they should be doing." Naruto told her angrily. Sakura pressed her lips shut, seeming angry and sad at the same time.

"Naruto... Liver failure is a symptom of her illness. It's just a sad coincidence that it's only happening now, but cutting off the meds won't stop it." Sakura explained quietly.

"We will see." Naruto told her stubbornly. Sakura glared at him and eyed the leaking medicine bag. The way Naruto had torn the tube, it couldn't be put back together – that was probably his exact intention. Sakura eyed the nurse call button, but in the end, she didn't press it. "It's not like they're even working."

"I was reading about this. Inducing kunoichis is supposed to be very hard. Specially powerful ones like Gaara." she explained hesitantly. Gaara frowned.

"Hard how?" she asked warily. No one had told her about this.

"You have to try several methods until you find one which works. In most cases, none work and a surgery must be performed." Sakura hesitated. "Inducing someone in your condition is really dangerous. If they could, they would have chosen surgery right away."

"No one thought it was important to mention that." Naruto looked even angrier. Sakura sighed.

"I just came to see how you were doing, but I have a prenatal appointment in half an hour. I'll bring you lunch later." Naruto nodded once.

"Thank you, Sakura." he told her quietly. She gave him a small, tight smile. Her smile softened when she turned to Gaara.

"Get better. I'll come back later." she waved, then left.

"Naruto... We should call the nurse to put the mask back in place." a stubborn look crossed his face.

"No. I want to test my theory, first. Staying half an hour without it won't make a difference, if it hasn't had any effect over you the whole night." he told her strongly.

She sighed, and didn't argue. Without the mask, she felt even more tired than before. It was as if what was being given to her was actually something to keep her awake, and now that it was gone, she needed sleep.

She tried to push the feeling away as Naruto sat by her side and she lied down once again, but the feeling became worse and worse, until she was coming alarmingly close to crashing. Trying to keep awake was one of the worst feelings she felt in her life.

"Gaara, are you feeling sick?" Naruto wondered, worried.

"...I'm really exhausted. I need sleep." she told him softly. Fighting sleep actually hurt her. His eyes narrowed, and he glared at the dripping medicine bag.

They were softer again when he looked at her. "Sleep. I'm right here, watching over you." Gaara nodded silently and closed her eyes.

She fell asleep almost as soon as her eyes closed.

* * *

When she woke up again, she felt disorientated. She tensed, anxious, when she found herself in a dark place that wasn't the hospital. It took several seconds for her to realize she was in Naruto's bed, at his home, and the lights were off. She slowly sat up.

"You're awake." Naruto sounded relieved. He was sitting at his table, several papers strewn over the tabletop. He didn't seem to be working, it was too dark. He had been looking out of the window.

"Is it night?" Gaara looked at the window confused. "I'm not in the hospital... am I dreaming?"

"No. You just slept the whole day away. They gave up inducing you. You were fighting it." Gaara frowned.

"Fighting?" Naruto stood and walked up to her. He was wearing his pajamas trousers, but his chest was bare.

"Yes. They analyzed all the stuff the monitors got off you, and the examinations they did, and they concluded that your body was overworking, fighting the attempts to induce. That was why you couldn't sleep, and you stopped healing yourself. Your chakra was hurting you. After I took you off the meds, your condition didn't worsen again." Gaara's eyes widened.

"They... gave up?" she asked quietly.

"They tried the chakra induction again. Your sand was even more vicious while you were asleep, it pushed even Tsunade away. It came to a point they couldn't get two steps from you without the shield going up. They gave it up and told me to take you home so your shield would return to a resting state." She looked a the gourd in the corner as he motioned towards it.

Through all this, she hadn't woken up once, despite the fact she was a ninja with very light sleep.

Gaara watched him in silence for several seconds. Naruto looked exhausted, and sad. She reached out for him, and reading what she wanted from her body language, he held her against his chest. Gaara held him close, taking in his scent.

"They wanted to try again tomorrow. I refused." Gaara bit her lip. "After what Sakura said..." he sighed. "But you have the right to try it again, if you want." she silently shook her head.

"I'm sorry." she whispered against him. A rush of air left Naruto's lips – she wasn't sure, but it sounded like a failed chuckle.

They sat in silence for a long time.

It was Naruto who broke the silence. "You never gave them a name."

She bit her lip. She didn't want to...

Part of her had put thought to it despite herself, and she knew what she wanted to name them as soon as he asked again. "Yukio and Yuraku." she murmured.

Naruto squeezed her closer and chuckled. "Yuraku's the little taijutsu master?" she smiled faintly and nodded. "Matching names. I like them." Naruto said softly.

"Promise me you will tell them I loved them?" she asked in a whisper. If she didn't give birth soon, their chances of survival would drop... but hopefully, the Konoha medics would work a miracle for their beloved Hokage.

Naruto didn't say anything for a long time. She had given up on hearing a response when Naruto whispered. "I promise." She relaxed against him, her lips curving into a smile.


	8. The Beginning of a Life Together

**Author's Note:** This chapter kind of discusses several of the cultural aspects of their worlds, most of them which aren't exactly canon. Some of the things I've loosely taken from japanese culture, others I've made up based on other cultures, to try and differentiate Konoha and Suna a little more. Konoha ended closest to Japan, but it isn't quite the same. Just FYI.

There's also something in this chapter which I think I should explain.

I have never noticed any date marks in the anime, so I always assumed the three chuunin exams shown happened in late January and February, because that's when school entrance exams happen in japan. When I saw the movie "The Last", I learned it snows in Konoha... which means it would have snowed during the chuunin exams if those were winter months. So, in my head-canon, their continent's in their equivalent of our southern hemisphere, where December and January are summer months.

I hope that staves off any confusion. Enjoy!

Note: This chapter contains an omitted sex scene. The whole text can be found on the site Archive of Our Own.

* * *

 **Chapter 8: _The_ _Beginning of_ _a Life_ _Together_**

She had been so tired that, despite sleeping away a whole day, she still managed to fall asleep inside Naruto's arms at night.

When she woke up next morning, the sadness that had shrouded Naruto the previous night was gone.

It was completely gone. Naruto looked happier than she had seen him in a very long time. His mood befuddled her. She wondered if it was a mask, but if it was, she was unable to read past it.

"Ever had a picnic?" Naruto asked as she stood by the kitchen door, watching him in confusion.

"No." she replied quietly. He turned around and grinned at her.

"We're having one today." she nodded slowly. He was packing food already. "I have the perfect place for it, if you want to get dressed."

"I need to let my council know my attempt to induce labor failed." there, a flicker of another feeling, but it was gone with a blink. So his happiness was a mask. Gaara wasn't sure what to think of that.

"They already know. I told them, don't worry about that." Naruto waved a hand towards her. "Don't worry about anything."

"I probably need to return to the hospital. We can't just pretend nothing happened." she sighed.

"Dr. Mieko wants you to return tomorrow evening, or as soon as you recover your energies if you're still tired by tomorrow. Having your sand on attention all the time's bad for you." she frowned.

"Is that why I was released from the hospital yesterday?"

"Yeah... When you wouldn't wake up no matter what they did, Dr. Mieko was worried they were putting too much strain on you. She gave you medical orders to relax today. So, you're going to do nothing but sleep and be lazy."

She didn't think she could sleep any more. Good thing she wouldn't have to argue with him to get out of bed – it seemed Naruto already had plans to relax her outside. She didn't feel like doing anything else, she was fine humoring his idea.

She walked up to him and peered at the food he was packing. He had cooked it, she could see dirty pans over the cooktop. "Are you a clone?" she wondered curiously.

"Nope. I'm the one and only." he told her with a grin. She pursed her lips.

"You haven't gone into work today?" he only hummed in response, but she couldn't divine an answer from the sound, except for the fact he was avoiding her question. "You've sent a clone to work." she guessed, disapproving.

He dropped what he was doing and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I'm kind of in vacation, so that doesn't matter. Go get dressed." he lightly pushed her away.

With a sigh, she left him and went to do as he had asked. While she dressed, she tried to guess what was going on inside Naruto's head, but for the life of her, she couldn't. Did he think that seeing him sad would make her more stressed? That didn't make any sense.

"Ready?" he asked when she walked into the kitchen again, fully dressed. She nodded in agreement.

He walked up to her and took her hand into his, interlacing their fingers. In a gush of wind, they were in a glade somewhere.

Naruto moved to stretch a table towel over the ground, then he threw a pillow on the floor. "Sit here." he motioned.

She wasn't going to stand from so low without effort nor without conscious help of her sand, so she hesitated. After taking a look around them, she sighed and perched herself on the pillow slowly, with a lot of help from the sand from her dissolving mini-gourd. Against medical orders, she left her sand armor over her face so Naruto wouldn't see how pale she was that morning.

She watched him silently as he set up the picnic, still wondering why he was doing all of this. She didn't ask, but after a while, he decided to tell her. "You know... It's a custom in Konoha, when a girl is in love with a boy, for her to make him food and invite him to a picnic."

"Oh." she looked at the food once again. It was all healthy – rice, bread, fish and vegetables, and no fruits. He had paid more attention to the nurses' complaints on her weight and what she should be eating than she had given him credit for.

Gaara was wary about losing weight. She had gained twenty-two kilograms more than her normal weight so far, but her doctor had told her the twins were underweight. If they weren't getting enough nutrition now, what good eating less was going to do for them? Dr. Mieko hadn't told her to lose weight, only Dr. Himi had.

"We're married, and about to be parents, but we never had a date. I thought it would be nice to have one." he explained, and she offered him a small smile. This seemed to genuinely cheer him up, and he offered her a grin that didn't seem forced.

"I never went on a date. What am I supposed to do?" she asked quietly. Naruto reached over and placed a bite sized sandwich slice on her hand.

"You're supposed to relax and have a lot of fun." he replied without hesitation.

She took a bite from the food. The seasoning wasn't strong, but her stomach had been weak lately, so that suited her just fine. She blinked, startled, when she heard the click of a camera, and looked up to see Naruto had taken a photo of her. She looked askance at him.

His mask broke for a moment, and her throat tightened at the sadness in his eyes. "Wouldn't want Yuki-chan and Yura-chan to ever forget how beautiful their mother is." a small blush heated her cheeks under her sand armor and she smiled at him. Before she could blink, he was taking another picture. "Oh, wow! Such a big smile! That one is worth gold!"

"Naruto..." she mumbled, embarrassed.

"You're always so serious and proper in your pictures. It requires someone with my awesome skills to get one of you smiling." he moved over and plopped by her side, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She blinked as the camera was held in front of them, and he took a photo of them together.

He brought the camera near them and pouted when he saw he had cut off half of his face and her chin. "That wasn't very efficient." she noted.

Naruto scoffed. "I'll show you efficiency." a shadow clone popped into existence, and Naruto threw him the camera.

Then, he turned around and his fingers dug into her sides. She gasped in surprise, then squirmed under his fingers, because she was extremely ticklish when her sand armor wasn't protecting her skin. Her treasonous sand shield wasn't shielding her from him. "I won't surrender until you laugh."

"Naruto." his name sounded more like a strangled whine coming from her lips rather than the admonition she meant. He found a spot on her stomach that was unbearably sensitive, and an unflattering snort escaped her lips. He grinned and exploited that spot until she burst out laughing, hard enough that her eyes filled with tears.

When he finally stopped, she sagged, feeling weak. He pulled her into his chest, and they lied together against the cool ground. "You're a bully." she told him breathlessly.

"But now I have a photo of the stoic Kazekage laughing. That's certainly worth silver from the moon." Naruto boasted. She smiled against his chest, and heard another click of a camera. Glancing up, she saw his clone smirking at her.

"Naruto, you're an odd man." she told him with a small shake of the head.

"And you're an odd woman. We're a good match for each other." Naruto remarked.

Before she could say anything, Naruto brought a mini rice ball to her lips and held it there, until she accepted it. She took the offering after a few seconds, and Naruto reached to eat something himself.

"What are typical dates in Suna like?" Naruto wondered. For some reason, Gaara didn't think that was an idle question.

"I... think they like going out to eat together at night." she pondered, trying to remember what she had listened to while spying on her idling ninja.

"I don't mean what real dates are like. More like... I don't know. What do little girls do when they have a crush?" Gaara blinked, and hummed as she summoned her memories.

"They light candles." she said lightly.

"Huh?" Naruto peered down at her.

"I... Before I became Kazekage, when people stopped fearing me, lit candles started appearing on my doorstep and under my window. Kankurou laughed when he saw them, and Temari explained later that someone was in love with me. If you like a girl back, you're supposed to place the candle inside a lantern to protect the flame from being extinguished by the sand and wind. If you don't, you blow the flame out." she explained.

"...Deep." Naruto muttered.

"It doesn't really work, as far as communication goes. I would always extinguish the flames with my sand, but they would reappear lit up again next morning." Naruto burst out laughing then.

"You're a heart breaker." he teased.

"I didn't even know who was lighting them up. They would hide themselves under disguises and genjutsus." she gave a little shrug. She accepted the new bite of food Naruto gave her. "But if a guy likes a girl, he'll give her colorful shawls."

"Shawls?" Naruto hummed. "Girls give hand crafted scarves to guys they like in the Rinne Festival, too."

"What does a Konoha guy do when they like a girl?" she wondered.

"Huh..." Naruto stuttered, then his silence stretched.

"You're a heart breaker, too." she teased. Naruto had had girlfriends, yet he didn't know what he was supposed to do to express his love towards them.

"I'm not! They're... supposed to give them flowers, I guess. Chocolate, too. But it doesn't really sound as special as receiving home made food." Gaara hummed.

"That's because you're a man." she closed her eyes when Naruto reached up to caress her cheek. The ground wasn't the most comfortable place to lie on, but inside Naruto's arms, she could easily fall asleep.

"Do you like flowers?" Naruto wondered.

"Hm... I like plants, but I like them when they're alive. Not flowers in special... I've always been fond of cacti." Naruto's hand slid down to cup her stomach when their most active son started moving.

"I like plants too. I love gardening, but I never really had a place with space for a nice garden." Gaara placed her hand over his.

"I really like gardening, too. I have a cacti garden back in Suna." Naruto started at her words.

"Really? I didn't know that! We have a hobby in common then?" she smiled and nodded. "Man, I really need to get a bigger house with a garden. You need to teach me how to grow cacti."

"Konoha's soil has too much water... it would kill them."

"You can plant them in pots." Gaara silently agreed. "We will plant flowers too. And a tree." she didn't say anything so she wouldn't break the comfortable moment, but she really didn't have the time for that. "We can start tomorrow." Her eyes widened, and she moved until she could stare up at him.

"Tomorrow?" she wondered.

"Yeah! I mean, I have to get a house first, my apartment isn't big enough for two boys anyways. Will you help me get a nice house?" Gaara watched him warily. He was going to waste money on a bigger house to potentially live alone in it. But she couldn't force the words past her lips when he looked back into her eyes.

"...Alright." she whispered softly. "I'll buy it for you." he blinked.

"I can do it, you..." she placed her fingers over his lips.

"It's a gift. You can keep your apartment too, since it's likely closer to the Hokage tower than any house we might find." His eyes darkened. She didn't need to tell him she expected he would be living there on his own in a couple of months.

He leaned in and kissed her lips suddenly. She closed her eyes and kissed him back. It felt uncomfortable for a brief moment as they changed positions, but then her sand trickled in under them and created a bed for them both. Naruto parted away and watched her with half-lidded eyes. "Your sand is kind of useful for making out on the woods." he whispered with a grin. She scoffed and slapped his shoulder lightly.

She started when a straw was pushed against her lips, and looked over her shoulder to see his clone holding out a glass of water. She silently accepted it. 

* * *

Gaara wasn't sure whether Naruto had been serious or not, so she was a little surprised when he dragged her out to see houses for sale the next morning. His clones had apparently spent the whole of the previous day hunting for the places he liked, now he wanted her opinion.

She watched him closely as they visited each house. She knew exactly which house she was going to 'like' when she saw his eyes lit up as he talked about the next place they would see.

"This one has a pretty nice view of Konoha. It's over the Hokage mountain." he explained. It was a new apartment, then, most of the buildings over the mountain range had been built less than four years ago.

"Won't it be kind of far from the Hokage tower?" She wondered. As answer, Naruto wrapped his hands around her waist and they appeared in one of the new streets in a gush of wind. A couple of people who had been walking by looked at them startled, and Gaara raised an eyebrow at Naruto. "Do you have your seal on every light post in the village?"

"Pretty much." Naruto agreed with an impish grin. "You can't say much, you have your sand all over your own village." she had to concede that.

Naruto led her towards one of the smaller streets, and at one point it became beaten ground instead of concrete. As they walked, the rocky ground gave way to grass... For some reason, Gaara didn't find it surprising that Naruto's favorite house was apparently in the middle of one of the small copse of woods above the mountain.

It was a surprisingly old house. It was made of wood and rice paper, but she could see seals everywhere, and she suspected that house was stronger and more resistant than most cement houses that were being built lately.

"This house has a story." she guessed aloud, realizing there was likely a special reason for Naruto to be so excited about it over the others. The house was isolated from everything, and though it was beautiful, it was definitely not a practical place to live in. Although the house didn't seem severely damaged to the point of being unlivable, it was also in a very serious state of disrepair.

"Of course, all of them do." Naruto agreed with a chuckle. He understood what she meant, though, and after a short silence, he continued. "My dad used to live here, before he went to live with my mom." he finished. She looked at it again in a new light.

"...Oh. I thought his house was destroyed by Pein." she whispered.

"The house my parents lived in when I was born was destroyed. I didn't even know this one existed before. Kakashi told me about it twenty minutes ago, when I told him we were hunting for a place to move in. He said this house was left for me in dad's will, but it seems the people who were supposed to warn me when I turned twenty never bothered to. Everyone else who knew thought I already knew about it."

They walked up the stone path, and by the way Naruto was looking around, it was clear he was seeing it for the first time too.

She stood by his side as he fiddled with the keys for the front door, looking at the front porch. Trees had encroached next to the house through the years it had been abandoned, but instead of giving it a neglected aura, Gaara actually liked it. She loved plants – being amongst them made her feel surrounded by life. Even the wood from the building felt alive, humming with chakra when she touched it with her sand covered fingers. The seals on them probably caused the sensation.

They peered into the building. Naruto tried the lights, but unsurprisingly they were cut. The house was filled with dust, and the furniture was covered with grey sheets that once had probably been white.

"Tatami. But we probably shouldn't take off our shoes." Naruto mumbled.

Gaara lifted her hand and the dust in the room responded to her chakra. Her sand left the small gourd attached to Naruto's waist and washed over the floor, gathering the dust in its midst and turning it part of itself.

"Don't do that!" Naruto squeaked in panic.

"I've already done it. It's fine to take off your shoes now." she pointed out, removing her shoes and stepping onto the impeccably clean tatami.

"Oh, wow. That's really useful! But, please, don't do that again." Naruto followed her. She ignored his words.

The first room looked like a sitting room of some sort, but it wasn't, because there was a bigger sitting room with actual furniture when they walked past one of the doors. There were closed doors to what she realized was a sizable inner garden. Her eyes widened when she saw there was a pond in there – dirty and neglected, but full of water.

"A pond." she whispered. Naruto chuckled by her side.

"That's like a gold mine in the backyard for a Suna guy, eh?" he grinned, grabbing a stone and throwing it on the murky water. She didn't need to ask him why he had done that – the ripples in the water didn't match the fall of the stone. "It has fish in it. I'll need to clean that, it's surprising they're even alive."

"That's a cherry tree, and that's a mulberry tree. Maybe they feed off the fruits that fall on the water." Gaara suggested quietly.

"I have no idea what fish eat, but I don't think they eat fruits." he left the small garden and walked around – as Gaara expected, each of the four rooms and the kitchen had windows to the inner garden, but the windows to the outside of the house were only along the corridors. It was the design of a ninja's house – specially since there were warding seals drawn on each of the windows.

After they had toured the house, they left to the back garden, and that was where the nice view Naruto had talked about was supposedly in. They could see the lower part of Konoha stretching over the horizon – from their position, Gaara guessed they were probably somewhere far to the right of the First Hokage's head.

"This house is perfect." Naruto proclaimed, happily. "Don't you think?"

"Yes. You should have been told about it before you bought your bachelor pad." she noted, crossing her arms as she glanced over the woods around them. It sat in a deceptively open terrain, but her trained eyes could see several traps and seals on the trees. It was a safe house. "I really like it." she finished in a whisper, looking around the trees. This was the one thing she loved about Konoha, even though she wasn't very fond of the weather the trees caused – colder days and humid air.

"Awesome! I guess we don't have much planting to do, but the back garden needs to be tended, and the mess that is the inner garden. We can buy pots and fill that weird living room in the entrance with cacti." Naruto gestured excitedly. "I just need to clean the house and air it out a bit, I think we can move in by the end of the week.

"We'll probably have to throw away half the furniture. Konoha's humid weather isn't good on wooden objects." she wrapped her finger's around Naruto's hand as he took hers and pulled her back towards the house.

"Nah, there are water seals to deal with that. Jiraiya was the one who taught me about them, I would expect he would teach dad. Speaking of seals, I should activate the defenses around the house. Is there any way I can get some of your blood?"

"If you're very patient, yes." she hummed. 

* * *

In her doctor appointment that evening, she discovered she had lost nearly three kilograms since her last weighting, right before they attempted to induce her. On top of all the physical symptoms, that showed how awry the attempt had gone. Naruto adamantly refused to try it again.

Gaara was hesitant. She wanted the children to survive, and their chances would diminish the more she waited. She quickly found out that it was impossible to reason with Naruto, specially when she wasn't sure of what she wanted to do, herself. His priority seemed to be keeping her alive over anything else, and the doctor didn't seem convinced she would have better chances being forced to give birth than if she did so naturally – both were apparently equally dangerous to her, as sometimes was the case with a kunoichi. Surgery was the best approach, but even when she tried to have Naruto or herself cut the skin of her stomach as a test, it didn't work.

Dr. Mieko passed her a list of things she should do, and things she couldn't do, to keep her as healthy as they possibly could manage. She was told not to go on diet. She was also told to double her intake of water.

Naruto took her advice very seriously, and she gave up refusing the water he would give her on random moments of the day. It was the same as when he had discovered about her pregnancy. At least she didn't feel sick now like she had back then. If anything, the water actually made her feel more energetic, and even her quieter baby started moving around more often. The only draw back was that her ability to stay hours without going to the toilet had long been shot by pregnancy, and drinking so much water didn't help.

She didn't leave Naruto's apartment often, unless he took her out. Sometimes Temari stayed with her, sometimes Naruto stood there silent, giving her space without leaving her alone. Neither of them accused her of brooding, but she hated it that it was exactly what she was doing.

At any moment, when she started feeling too sad, Naruto would sit by her side and engage her in conversation, even when she was less than enthusiastic to talk with him.

Five days after he had first seen his father's house, Naruto's clones had already moved them in. They moved during the night and slept together on a very comfortable futon in the master bedroom.

Gaara stood by the front door, looking over the trees in the front garden. It had started to rain – it was drizzling, really – and seeing rain always fascinated her.

"Hey, Gaara. What are you doing?" she glanced back, to see Naruto walking down the corridor, drying his hair. He had been showering, and she was supposed to be cooking breakfast, but she got distracted by the rain when she went to open the door to air the house out as they had done every day since they had first visited it.

"I... was distracted. I'll cook." she murmured, and left to walk to the kitchen. She paused when Naruto grabbed her hand.

"What distracted you? Ah, it's raining! How funny, the sky isn't dark." she glanced around, seeing the wide eyed surprise on Naruto's face, then glanced outside again. The sun was out and bright in the mid morning. That wasn't unusual when it rained in Suna, but apparently it was in Konoha. "I wonder if we will get a rainbow."

"I don't think so." the rain was too weak for them to see a rainbow. But even as she said the words, a booming sound made the air around them tremble, and all of a sudden more rain came pouring down, startling her.

She wasn't thinking as she stepped forward and reached a hand out, and she watched in fascination as the downpour washed her hand. That didn't happen often in Suna.

"The Summer showers are starting." Naruto murmured. Then, he stepped out into the rain and grabbed her hand. "Come!" he called cheerfully, pulling her under the rain.

A gasp escaped her lips as her armor shied away from her face, and suddenly she felt cold under the heavy rain. She closed her eyes and turned her face up, letting the water drops caress her face as a smile turned up her lips.

Naruto had gone quiet. She opened her eyes and squinted towards him through the rain, to see him watching her with a blank face. When he caught her looking, he offered her a small smile. He turned around and pulled her around the house, until they were completely out from under the tree covers, and able to see the sky in all its beautiful glory.

"Have you ever stood under the rain like this, Gaara?" Naruto asked cheerfully.

"Yes. I did as a child, every time it rained." she agreed quietly, glancing at the sky.

"Eh? Really? I thought it didn't rain in Suna?" Naruto mumbled.

She chuckled at him. "Of course it does." they were in silence for a few minutes.

"Have you ever kissed under the rain?" she started at his words, and glanced at him.

"No." she murmured. He offered her a half smile, then turned her around and pecked her lips.

He backed away, looking surprised. "You're... soft." she closed her eyes as his thumb caressed her cheek. "Were you always using your sand armor while we, uh..." he trailed off. He gasped. "You're blushing! You've never blushed!" the burning in her cheeks worsened at his words. Naruto burst out in laugher.

"Naruto..." she mumbled, embarrassed that he was laughing at her.

"You're the only person who can pull off looking blank-faced and mortified at the same time!" he pointed out, still laughing. She huffed, and turned away from him, intent on ignoring him.

He didn't allow her to. In a second, she was inside his arms, and he was kissing her deeply while his hand wandered under her shirt and caressed her bare back, causing shivers to wrack her body. She had never been touched directly like that, it made her knees feel weak.

"You were wearing your sand armor when we had sex. You sneaky..." the sound that escaped her throat as Naruto ran his hand near the curve of her breast startled both of them, and made them freeze, staring at each other. Then, Naruto cupped her breast, which was bared under her night shirt.

"N-Naruto. W-We're in public." she gasped.

In a second, they were in their bedroom in a rush of wind. "That's why you never allowed me to lick you." Naruto murmured, thumbing her nipple as he leaned in and licked her neck. She gasped, her fingers digging into his drenched shirt.

"W-We can't have s-sex..." she reminded him.

"Dr. Himi said we should do it." Naruto whispered roughly by her earlobe, then he sucked it into his mouth. Gaara squeezed her eyes shut, pressing her lips to muffle a moan. "I'm going to lick you all over." she shivered inside his arms at the promise in his voice.

He did lick her, all over. When she felt like she couldn't stand anymore, he took her inside his arms and carried her to the futon, then proceeded to give her the most intense orgasm she had ever felt in her life.

Once they regained their breaths, he spooned her. "Was I too rough?" he asked in a deep, satisfied voice.

"...No." she sighed, cuddling against him. "Talking so much does seem to have strengthened your tongue." she couldn't help but tease. His chest rumbled with a chuckle.

"Hiding so much made you completely inept at controlling your blushes." her cheeks warmed up, as if to prove his words. "You look even cuter when you come without your sand armor. Promise me you won't use it again while we're together like this?" he murmured, then kissed the back of her head. She offered him a smile.

"If you promise to protect me in its place." he could tell she was just teasing, because he smirked and held her closer.

"I'll wrap myself all around you just like it." a clone materialized and pressed her between them both. "Is that enough?"

"Then, I promise." she sighed, shifting until she was lying comfortably between them, and closed her eyes. Naruto nuzzled her cheek.

"Are you going to sleep again? We should eat something first." he murmured.

"I'll cook in a bit. It's comfortable here." she responded.

"I cooked. Food is ready. Just tell me when you want to eat." she nodded silently. 

* * *

They spent half of the morning cuddling together. For the first time in two weeks, Gaara felt contented in one of her silences.

She didn't want to leave his arms, but she was sick and tired of staying in bed. "I think I'm going out today."

"Great idea." Naruto sounded more excited than she thought he should be. "But not before eating." he stood, then offered her his hands. Getting up from the floor on her own was just too much effort, so she accepted his help. He took a jar of water he kept in their room and gave her the third glass of water that morning, she drank it without argument. "Do you have any plans?"

"Not yet." she confessed. She just felt stifled, sudden as it was.

Today probably wasn't the best day to feel restless, considering the rain. But as she arrived in the living room, she saw it was no longer raining. She frowned, walking up to the doors that led to the inner garden and glancing at the sky. There was barely any clues in the sky that it had rained not long ago.

"It's stopped raining..." she commented as she knelt by the low table.

"Summer showers. They hit fast and hard, and then they're just gone. Great to catch you unaware on your way home." Naruto commented, guessing what she was finding strange. "You should take an umbrella, just in case. We don't want you to get a cold."

She wordlessly agreed, accepting the food he had served for them both since he had cooked this morning. He changed the subject and talked about other things for several minutes, but after a lull in the conversation, he returned to the subject of her outing.

"Do you want to go for a swim? Or would you rather be alone?" Naruto offered. She frowned.

"It's too cold for a swim..." she trailed off when he raised an eyebrow at her. He was sitting across her, wearing no shirt, while she was wearing one of the long sleeved cotton shirts her sister had gotten for her three days ago. The day had been warm yesterday, but the air had chilled after the rain. "I don't have a furnace in my stomach anymore." she felt a little defensive. Naruto grinned.

"Well, we can visit the hot-springs?" Gaara grimaced. "Ok, too hot for that. How about...?"

"Let's just go for a walk." she interrupted before he could say anything else. "I've never really visited this side of Konoha." she had never really gone up the mountain range, there was really no reason for her to go.

The Hokage Tower was on the lower part of Konoha, the chuunin exams and any other political event were also held down there. It was disrespectful to wander about a Hidden Village when you were a foreign ninja – but she was Naruto's wife now. She wasn't quite a foreigner.

But a thought hit her, "Do people know I'm your wife...?" Naruto's sour expression said everything. So his council had pulled a secrecy clause on him as well. "I guess I shouldn't be walking around, then." she murmured.

"Yes, you should! I've just not announced it, but it's perfectly fine if people see us out on a date and take their own conclusions." he forced a smile. Gaara sighed.

"This kind of rumor will do you more harm than good without an official announcement." she shook her head.

"It won't be a rumor if I tell people we're together." his smile was predatory. She frowned, confused. "My council wanted me to wait to announce our marriage..." he trailed off. "It doesn't matter why. They never said I couldn't personally tell people. You saw I told my friends, if anyone asks on the streets, we just tell them."

"It'll be better if we wear genjutsu." she sighed, knowing arguing against the idea of leaving at all would do her no good. He hesitantly agreed, but he didn't look happy about it. If ninjas caught them, specially from Hinata's family, they would at least find out what was happening before they started spreading rumors.

Temari had bought her a few maternity clothes that didn't look glaringly feminine. She hadn't worn any of them but the pajamas, but when she made to wear Naruto's jacket as she usually did outside, he quickly took the garment from her.

"It's way too hot for you to walk around in that. Wear something else." he motioned to the dark green and black clothing her sister had brought.

"Suna's days are much hotter,..." she began, but he interrupted.

"And you were sweating buckets inside it. Come on." she sighed, and looked between the clothes. She reached for one of the dark green sets, but wrinkled her nose when she saw a pale green ribbon sewed on the front, over the line were the shirt flared to accommodate her stomach. Naruto reached out and tore the lace away. "Here, all manly now."

"That's not it." she argued, miffed, but she wasn't sure why exactly she was against wearing those clothes outside. Naruto ignored her and reached into the underwear drawer she hadn't touched yet, removing a maternity bra from it and holding it out for her. She refused to take the piece of cloth. "I don't need that."

"It's far more comfortable than wrapping them, I'm sure. Give it a try?" she huffed but took the clothing and threw everything on the bed.

She removed her shirt and pulled the bra over her head, but Naruto caught her hand. "That's not how you wear them." he giggled. "You're supposed to know this kind of stuff, not me." Gaara just pursed her lips and held it to him.

He undid a clasp and gave it to her again. She put her arms through the loops, then unsuccessfully tried to close the clasp in her mid back. "Is this supposed to be more comfortable?" she ground out, trying to close the damn thing. Naruto just stood there, laughing and being unhelpful.

She finally managed to close it, and once she had adjusted the clothing, it did feel more comfortable. But her breasts also looked much bigger than she was used to seeing. "Gorgeous." Naruto said with a grin, offering her the shirt.

She pulled it over her head, and though she half expected it too be too tight on the chest area, the shirt was just the right size. Naruto must have told her sister her size, because Temari had never seen her unbound.

She pulled the loose black pants over her boxers, then looked down at herself. She looked strange, but she felt very comfortable. "It feels comfortable." she admitted, hesitantly.

"You look gorgeous." Naruto told her with a grin. "Too bad she didn't find anything on your colors. We can look for something ourselves, if you want?" he offered, getting dressed.

"...I suppose." she agreed quietly. She preferred earthy tones, even sandy tones, to wearing all black or green. Temari had a thing for giving her green clothes, though, she had several green shirts her sister had given her. It apparently looked good on her.

"Let's find a clothing store, then. I'm sure we can find one around here." for once, Naruto wasn't wearing all orange, but black pants and a blue shirt. She realized why when he just changed his face and hair color with the genjutsu – that was enough to make him look like a completely different man.

She did the same, being a female was enough to throw people off at the moment. 

* * *

They walked slowly, with no particular direction in mind despite Naruto's suggestion. She was curious to learn more about the neighborhood.

As she had thought, it was mostly comprised of tall buildings, with the odd low ones that looked more like schools than houses. It had several parks and a few playgrounds, and there were stores or markets on the first floor of most of the buildings.

Most of the people walking around were civilians, they didn't need to worry about their genjutsus being caught. Not that Naruto was worried – he hadn't even disguised his voice, and he seemed to have no compunctions talking with her around anyone who would hear. She softened her own voice so she sounded more like a woman.

At around noon, they sat in a park bench and ate the lunch Naruto had packed for them. Even after eating, they stayed there for a little over an hour, resting, before resuming their leisure walk.

They found a baby clothing store eventually.

"The babies don't have any clothes yet." Naruto remembered, surprised, as soon as he saw the store.

"They have the rompers Hinata bought for them." she had brought two, along with the sleeping gown she had gotten for Gaara. Naruto scoffed.

"They can't wear the same clothes every day. If I've learned anything with Sasuke's kids, it's that babies are really messy. Come on." he took her by the hand and pulled her towards the store.

Gaara soon realized why Naruto wanted to have a daughter. She was half thankful he hadn't gotten his wish, she wasn't sure she wanted their daughter to be his dressing doll. Even the store's attendant seemed thrown by them – Naruto was gushing over baby's dresses, while she stood stone faced by his side.

She took a bright orange shirt away from the shopping basket and returned it to the display. "But...!"

"That's clothing for a toddler. A baby that huge doesn't fit inside my stomach, let alone two." she scoffed.

"How about...?" her eyes widened as he raised one of the small orange sets.

"That's a dress, Naruto." she cut through his words.

"Well, you're a girl and dresses like a guy." she took the hanger from his hand and set it away.

"You're not cross-dressing our children." she snapped. "Besides, they're newborns not..." she looked at the marker. "...six months old. They're going to be small, we don't want them to drown in their own clothes."

"Sarada was born pretty big. She outgrew all her white clothes before her first week." Naruto pointed out.

"Twins are usually smaller." She took another hanger from his hand. "No orange clothes. We're going to buy white only." she admonished.

"They're not going to wear white after their first week!" he was pretty much whining.

"We'll worry about that later. Come this way." she grabbed his hand and pulled him down the aisles until she saw one where there were only white clothing. As she expected, they were all newborn sized.

Konoha and Suna, as well as Kiri to her knowledge, shared the tradition to dress newborns in white clothes during the first week of their lives. Seven days, while they were still pure beings, closer to the holy than to the earth they'd been born into.

"What do you think about this?" She showed him one of the most frilly clothes that looked like they could be worn by a boy, hoping Naruto wouldn't feel the urge to put them in a dress.

It was premature sized. Naruto squinted. "It's cute, but... This is way too tiny. No way that can fit a baby."

She put it on the basket. "It's going to fit them. Trust me."

Naruto looked skeptical, but he grabbed another pair of the same model and placed on the basket. Of course, she wasn't surprised he was going to match their clothes, not after walking into this store with him and seeing him go crazy over baby dresses.

She grabbed cotton rompers and pajamas – all of them light enough to be worn during the summer. "Those are so plain." Naruto sighed sadly.

"They're more comfortable, too." she pointed out. He pouted, but he seemed to understand her point.

They left the store with several bags containing clothes, toys and several other things one or both of them thought might be useful to take into the hospital for their birth. Naruto had brought orange clothes, of course, and she hadn't argued too much. It would be a long time until they would grow big enough to wear them, though he didn't seem to believe her when she told him that. Sasuke's children, it seemed, were far bigger than Matsuri's children when they were born.

But she had been born small, and her siblings had been born small. She was sure her children would be small too. She really, really hoped they would.


	9. The Calm Before the Storm

**Author's Note:** My vacations will be over by February, so I want to try and finish this work still this week. I'll post the last remaining chapters within this week, as I finish working on them.

This chapter and the next both have cliffhangers. The cliffhanger on the next chapter actually has a purpose for existing (the alternate ending, that is). If cliffhangers bother you, wait until February 1st to read all four of the chapters.

Otherwise, Enjoy!

Note: Fixed the ramen/lamen spelling.

* * *

 **Chapter 9: _The Calm Before the Storm_**

New Year would be in ten days. It wasn't surprising, then, that Naruto was very busy. What surprised her was his insistence on pretending he wasn't stressed.

Naruto had been wrapping her inside a bubble lately. It was very easy for her to just accept it and be comforted by him, but it left a bad taste in her mouth. She felt guilty she was taking so much from him, and offering nothing in return. He was making her happy, but she had no idea if the happiness he showed her was real or just a mask.

His overprotectiveness was probably triggered by the fact she had been acting like a weak flower lately, which she felt was just stupid. That was why she forced herself out of her brooding mood. She really should be getting on a telephone and talking with the people she left in Suna without so much as a goodbye. But that was still too hard for her – she started small, by grabbing gardening tools and fixing their garden.

"Should you really be using a shovel?" Naruto hovered by her, watching her dig up the weeds. He didn't dare try to help her after she had almost bitten his head off when he tried to take the tool from her hands the first time.

"I'm fine, Naruto." she kept her voice level. "Go clean the pond. You learned how to do it, right?"

"What if..." she cut through him.

"...I go into labor? That would be a good thing." she reminded him. He grimaced.

This time he did hesitantly walk away, towards the pond as she had suggested.

She had never had such a hard time with weeds. Taking them off with her sand was fairly easy. The risk of attempting that at the moment wasn't worth it, and besides, getting her hands dirty with earth as she gardened had a soothing effect on her.

The soil of Konoha was nothing like the soil in Suna. She could feel the water in the cold earth. It had rained again last night, and the water was still soaking the earth, instead of being greedily absorbed by the plants.

She took a pause after riding part of the garden from the weeds, to rest her aching back against a tree as she sat by its roots. Naruto silently joined her, standing by her side, while a few of his clones were still cleaning the pond.

She waited for him to ask if she was okay, or say anything really, but all she heard was a gasp of surprise. It peaked her curiosity. She glanced up to see him staring at the trunk of the tree.

Naruto reached out and ran his fingers over the wood of the cherry tree. She tried to see what he was doing. She turned around and used the tree as support to get to her feet and look. It was a seal. "What seal is this?" she asked quietly. It looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it, and it was definitely not one of the basic seals.

"It's my dad's Hiraishin. I can still feel his chakra in it." Naruto whispered wistfully, tracing the carved seal with wonder.

She nodded quietly, reaching over and placing her hand on his shoulder in silent support when he looked sad for the fraction of a second. But then he was grinning again. "I'll be right back."

He returned with a carving knife, and slowly, patiently, carved his own seal under his father's. She sat on a rock and watched him as she rested.

Once he was done, he looked on at his work with pride. "Our sons will carve their own seals under ours." he told her with absolute certainty.

His smile was contagious. She didn't bother reminding him just how hard the Hiraishin was, let alone the alteration Naruto had created. The babies were Uzumakis and Namikazes, after all, if anyone could use those techniques, they probably could. Her own family was no laughing matter – there was a reason the Kazekage title ran in her bloodline. If her children survived, or if Kankurou had children, she was sure the title would remain in their family for the next generation. Temari's children wouldn't inherit it, if only because Konoha would fight to keep the Nara bloodline within their ranks.

"Let's make a pause to eat something." he suggested, giving her a glass of water. She drank it.

"I'm not really hungry. I'll cook something later." she said as she returned the glass.

"I'll get you a fruit, then." she sighed, but accepted the banana offered to her a few minutes later.

She watched Naruto's clones as they worked while she ate the fruit and rested. They were doing a pretty good job, but the fish didn't seem very excited with a human encroaching their territory. More than once she saw them attempt to bite him.

Until one of the overgrown fish actually jumped out of the water and got his hand, before quickly diving back into safety. "Ow!" Naruto yelped, shaking his bitten hand. He stumbled on a clone's leg and flailed as he lost his balance and went down into the water.

She chuckled at the scene. "You find this funny, do you?" she nearly jumped as Naruto breathed against her neck. She had forgotten he was sitting behind her.

"It's not often you see a Kage trip over his own foot after getting bitten by a fish." she noted with amusement. Naruto pouted.

"It was a clone's foot. You make it sound like I'm clumsy." she only smirked. "Well, as long as you're laughing." he plopped down by her side. The smile left her lips at his words, and he muttered something too low for her to understand. "Ouch. Those fish really bite hard." he rubbed his own hand from the phantom pain after his clone dispersed.

"It's just a fish." she dismissed. "Let's get to work." She stood and picked the shovel again.

This time, when Naruto joined her, she didn't feel as offended as she had felt earlier that morning. She started to enjoy practicing their shared hobby together, as they shared with each other what they knew about gardening in their very different lands.

* * *

Next morning, her arms and legs were aching. "I've really let myself go." she remarked with a grimace as they ate the breakfast she had cooked.

"Hm?" Naruto looked up, chewing.

"It's been too long since I've last trained." she elaborated. "My muscles are aching from yesterday.

"You're sick." he said as soon as his mouth was empty. "It was luck you stopped training, considering you didn't know you weren't supposed to use your chakra."

Looking at it that way, she was really lucky, indeed. Or maybe the reason she felt so sick while training was the illness, after all. It wasn't a common symptom, but nothing about her experience had been common so far.

"Maybe I should start jogging." Naruto frowned.

"I don't think that's a good idea." before she could say anything in response, he quickly added. "Swimming might be a better idea. It'll exercise both your arms and legs?" she studied him with narrowed eyes, trying to guess what he wasn't saying.

But she couldn't guess the real reason behind his rejection of her idea, without rejecting her wish to exercise. "I suppose." she hesitantly agreed. "But I don't really know how to swim."

"What?" Naruto gaped, incredulous. "You don't know how to swim? But... But you can water-walk!"

"I know how to get myself out of the water with chakra, and how to support my weight over the water with it. I never learned how to rely on my body to swim. As a child, I didn't have the patience to learn it while helpless near adults I didn't trust."

"Well, you trust me, right? I'll teach you." Naruto decided.

Swimming was somewhat of a useless skill to her, but it might be good as a physical exercise. The problem was, "I'm not sure I can learn now. When I fall into water, I use my chakra to float as an instinctive response. Like a battle reflex."

"We can try?" he wondered. "If you think it isn't working, we'll stop." she pondered his offer. "It's pretty hot today, even you agree." he nodded to her. She was wearing nothing but shorts and a top – she was feeling hot.

An hour later, they were in one of Konoha's training grounds, standing by one of the rivers that was apparently shallow at the borders. She was wearing one of Naruto's swimming trunks and a sports top, because she didn't have a swimming suit and Naruto was far too impatient to wait an hour until any stores opened at nine in the morning.

"Alright. You walk into the water slowly and see if that reflex of yours trigger." he suggested. Before she could agree, he ran towards the river and jumped in the deeper part, splashing her. Gaara tensed like a board – the water was as cold as ice.

"Naruto!" she chided him through ground teeth when he resurfaced and burst out laughing as he saw her.

"Come here." he raised his hands and motioned to her. She could see that, as far as he was, his feet didn't touch the ground.

"The water's too cold." She tested the temperature with her foot to make sure. If anything, the water felt even colder than before.

"You get used to it pretty fast, I promise!" she pursed her lips, but she sat by the river bed and placed her legs inside the water. It was very, very cold. She was already hating the experience. "Careful, some stones are slippery."

"Fine." she muttered, and decided to just go into the water and be done with it.

The water went up to her mid thighs. She crouched down until it covered more of her body, and it felt like she had been put into a freezer. Naruto laughed again at whatever expression he saw on her face as he swam towards her.

"If you splash me, I'll hit you." she warned when he got close enough. He raised his arms in surrender.

"I won't splash you. Come here." he called again, standing up on a part were the water hit his shoulders. She sighed, but stood and walked towards him, trying her best to ignore the cold.

She was starting to get used to it, just a little. That was when she felt it. She frowned and placed a hand on her stomach.

"What's it?" Naruto asked with concern, walking the rest of the way to her and placing his hands on her stomach. The water level was just by her breasts, but bellow Naruto's chest. "What's he doing?"

"I think... He's hiccuping." she pursed her lips. "He's cold. This isn't a good idea."

Naruto looked more amused than he had any right to be. "Come here. I'll help heat him up."

She rested her face against his chest when he held her close to him, sharing his body heat. It helped her get used to the temperature much faster, but her son was still hiccuping.

"Let's just leave." she suggested.

"Don't you want to try moving around first? If they're still uncomfortable, we'll leave." She wasn't sure she could tell whether they were uncomfortable or not.

But after they stood there for a while longer, he stopped hiccuping, and started kicking her like he did whenever he was feeling in the mood to play with his father, so they assumed he was fine. She was no longer cold, so her body was already heating him up again.

Naruto poked her stomach a few times so he wouldn't lose the habit, but then he said quietly, "Try to lift your feet off the ground." He demonstrated by floating a bit further from her and doing as he said.

She lowered her body until the water was up to her shoulders, then lifted one foot, then the other. As soon as both her feet were unsupported, her chakra reaction triggered and pushed her above the water.

Naruto quickly caught her and stood above the water to get her out of the river and stop the instinctive reaction. "Ok. That won't work. Let's try something else."

"I feel like we're playing with fire, here." She muttered. She stood on her own feet again when he placed her where the water hit her thighs.

"Are you feeling sick?" he asked warily.

"Not yet. But we're tempting fate." she said as she walked deeper into the river. He followed her, until they were standing at the same spot they had been before.

Naruto walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "Lift you legs now." he suggested. She did. Nothing happened. He grinned when she told him as much. "Good. Let them float a bit, get used to the feeling. Let your arms float, too."

She let go of his arms and relaxed against him. Now that she was used to the temperature, feeling herself float underwater was an incredible feeling. The feeling of water against her skin was far better than feeling air, or worse, fabric rubbing against it without her sand shield to protect her.

She closed her eyes. She could feel it as Naruto very gradually shifted his hold until he had let go of her, but her chakra response wasn't triggered this time. He slowly nudged her until she was floating in a lying position, with one of his arms just touching her shoulders, and the other just bellow her thighs.

"You're floating." he told her with a grin. "That was pretty easy. You know how to relax in the water, you should have learned fast how to swim."

"I wouldn't have relaxed around my tutors." she pointed out in a murmur.

"Well, there's that. Try to change into an upright position?" she did, and her chakra response triggered again.

It was almost noon by the time she could finally float and move around in the water without her chakra trying to push her out. She hadn't learned to swim, exactly, but she could go around small distances by kicking with her legs and arms.

"We should probably take a break and eat something." Naruto said after he saw the time.

"I'm starving." it had been a long while since she had last felt that hungry. Naruto blinked, then took her into his arms and pushed both of them up above the water.

"You should have told me that before. If you're starving, let's buy take out. How does ramen sound?"

"Unhealthy." she teased, smiling. Naruto grinned back.

"Well, the kiddos need to start learning how real food tastes like from the womb! It's also been a long time since I last saw the Old Man."

* * *

Half an hour later, they were both fully clothed and walking into Ichiraku's. Gaara had wanted to use a genjutsu, but Naruto absolutely refused.

"Naruto!" a young boy greeted animately, bounding from behind the counter as soon as they walked in. Naruto laughed and grabbed the little boy, throwing him in the air.

"Welcome to Ichiraku, miss..." Ayame began, but then her eyes widened when they lighted on her scar. "...Kazekage-sama?"

"It's just Gaara." she told the woman, not for the first time. Of all the restaurants in Konoha, this was the one she had visited most often, because of Naruto. She only called Naruto 'Hokage-sama' once or twice before he had convinced her not to use his title, but maybe Gaara's posture just intimidated people more than his. "Good afternoon, Ayame." she nodded politely.

Ayame's eyes went from her breasts to her stomach, and then to Naruto, who was playing with her five-year-old son and had forgotten they existed. "Please have a seat, K... Gaara-sama! Are you going to have your usual?"

"No. I'll take a look at the menu, thank you." her usual had pepper on it, and it would likely make her sick. She shouldn't be eating anything with pork, either. She walked up to the counter and accepted the menu from her, running her eyes over the recipes, before requesting one of the bland choices.

Ayame took a pause at her request, and she seemed to struggle to ask something, but Naruto had already set the little boy on the floor and wrapped his arm around Gaara's shoulders before she could say anything.

"Ayame, there are some people I wanted you to meet. You already know Gaara, but you don't know yet she's my wife. These are my sons Yuraku and Yukio." he poked her stomach. Ayame's eyes widened impossibly.

"Oh! Congratulations, Naruto! Gaara!" she congratulated them happily once she overcame her surprise. Gaara could see an infinitude of questions on the way she stood and watched them, but she didn't ask any. Her son had slipped away to the back of the restaurant, probably to announce to his grandfather that Naruto was there, like he always did.

"She totally named Yuraku after the Old Man!" Naruto told her with a grin. "He'll be your second best client in a few years, mark my words." that really hadn't been the intention, and it hadn't even crossed her mind.

Ayame laughed at the mere idea. "That's... a surprise! I hadn't heard you had married." she looked between them hesitantly. Naruto's hand tightened on her shoulder, and she could only guess at the expression on his face.

"That's because of political bullshit. The ceremony hasn't happened yet, and I'll love it if you and your family attends! I'll love it even more if I can order tons of ramen to serve my guests." he ended suggestively.

Ayame laughed again. Serving ramen in a wedding sounded ludicrous. It sounded like something Naruto would do. "I would love to accept, but we don't have the means to make that much ramen."

"It's going to be a private affair, not a village wide event. I'll pay all of it in advance so you can buy all the supplies you need." Gaara was pretty sure, by his voice, that he was using the puppy-eyed look on her. She looked torn between refusing, out of practicality, and accepting, because it was Naruto.

"I... will have a talk with daddy, and I'll get to you later. I can't cook that much on my own. When is the ceremony going to be?"

"Well... How does Spring sound, Gaara?" Ayame blinked at them, and Gaara couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips. "When everything looks colorful and happy?" he nudged her.

"It sounds great." she quietly agreed, smiling.

"You'll have plenty of time to decide. Think about it with love." he requested.

Ayame raised an eyebrow at him. "Will you have your latest usual?"

"Yup!" he agreed. She shook her head, then left them to get settled at one of the small tables.

As she had guessed, Ayame's son returned with his grandfather – already retired but still healthy. "Naruto! I haven't seen you in a while. Tenchi was acting like a love-sick puppy, waiting for you to return."

"Was not!" the boy denied, but he didn't seem too bothered as his grandfather patted his head.

"Sorry, I was kind of busy." Naruto stood from his place and walked towards Gaara. She stood, too. "But I came here today, to introduce you to my wife and sons." he placed a hand on her stomach.

Teuchi looked shocked. Tenchi walked shyly up to her and glanced at her stomach. "There's a baby in there, Naruto?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah! Two of them." he told the child with a grin. "I hope you will help me protect them from older children when they're your age." the small boy grinned and nodded, enthusiastic.

"Yup! Like Ayako-chan, right? I'm a good big brother!" he boasted.

"You're the best." Naruto agreed with a chuckle, ruffling his hair. "That's why I want you to be their big brother, too." the boy looked beside himself at Naruto's words. When Teuchi told him to go tell his mama what Naruto had said, he ran away from the room like a small storm.

"I didn't catch the announcement of your marriage." Teuchi remarked, surprised, when the child left the room. This time she saw the annoyance in Naruto's face.

"I haven't been allowed to announce it yet. One of the draw backs of being Hokage." Naruto pointed out. Teuchi shot them both a long look. "But they never specified I couldn't tell friends... So, I'm telling you ahead to prepare to be invited to our wedding." he finished with a grin.

Teuchi looked surprised again. "It's... truly an honor. But I couldn't possibly afford a gift worthy of two Kages."

Naruto's grin turned impish. "Sure you can! Cook for my reception. It would easily be the best gift we could get, I'm sure!"

Teuchi shook his head. "No. Good Ramen must be eaten fresh. I can either attend your wedding, or cook for it." Naruto pouted.

"How about you attend your wedding, then cook for us on out first year anniversary?" Gaara suggested.

"That, I can do." Teuchi agreed amicably. "I can give you free ramen on all your anniversaries until my time comes!" Naruto's eyes widened.

Gaara grabbed Naruto's hand. "I'll make sure he doesn't abuse your offer." she told him with a chuckle, seeing the moment the man realized what a mistake he had just made.

* * *

Three days later, she had learned the most basic of the swimming methods, their gardens looked far more presentable, and she had planted in pots a few cacti she had found in Konoha.

She was starting to feel like her normal self again.

But that morning, she was feeling something different. From the moment she had woken up, there was something odd at the edge of her perception.

Gaara couldn't tell what... Until it vaguely felt like someone was threatening to harm her. She tensed, looking around. She had just left the shower and she could hear noises in the kitchen – Naruto was making them breakfast today.

What... she started when she looked down to see her sand. There were several grains hovering a few centimeters above the floor, moving erratically, so sparse they looked like mist around her ankles. A small sandstorm. She had never seen it happen before, though erratic movement from her sand usually meant her safety was being threatened. She looked warily around the room, then decided it would be better if she went to Naruto's side. As much as she loathed to admit, she wasn't in any condition to fight off an enemy on her own.

Her small gourd had dissolved, and it didn't reform itself without her conscious prompt. The sand just followed her, dragging on the floor behind her. Well aware it would be worse for her health if she just let it be carried by her chakra instead of hanging from her shoulders, she reached out with a hand to will her chakra into forming a gourd, and gasped in surprise when she felt as if she had received an electrical shock on her hand, all the way up to her elbow.

Her hand recoiled and she felt fear. Whether someone was tampering with her chakra or not, that couldn't be a good sign.

"Gaara?" she looked up to see Naruto standing there, concerned. "Are you okay?"

She licked her lips. "...Do you feel anything strange, Naruto?" she asked quietly. He frowned, then slowly shook his head. She knew he would feel it if there was an enemy ninja around, which meant... "I... I think we should see my doctor." she tried to sound calm, but her voice shook. Naruto looked alarmed.

"Why? What are you feeling?" he asked quickly, walking up to her. She turned her eyes to the floor and his eyes followed hers – her sand was even more erratic due to her fear. The sand on the floor had been motionless before, but now it was moving too.

"I can't use my chakra." she told him quietly.

It might be a genjutsu, but trying to dispel it would do far more harm than good if it wasn't. She would have to hope Naruto found her and snapped her out of it without disturbing her chakra flow, in that case. But she couldn't find any visual or auditory cues that pointed to something tampering with her senses.

"I'll take you there." he forged a shadow clone and it immediately dispersed. She heard the sound of a pan falling on the kitchen and a curse, then a second Naruto came running to her side – likely the original. "Come here." he said shakily, "Hold on to me."

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and they were suddenly elsewhere.

She felt an indescribable, overwhelming feeling overtake her body. "You didn't bring my sand." she gasped, painfully aware of her own chakra moving to gather sand from any crevice and nook of the hospital room, even from inside the walls. It hurt. "I need it." it was hard to push the words out.

Harder still was making any sense of the words coming from Naruto's lips. She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her navel, and she just had enough time to feel horror at the realization that the sensation on her body was the same as when she had suffered Shukaku's extraction – if a lot less intense.

Then, she felt nothing else.


	10. Saying Goodbye

**Author's Note:** Oh, wow. I hadn't realized this chapter was so long until I separated it for posting. My apologies. I can't really break it apart, except for dividing it in part I and part II like the other. Since I'm posting both parts today, either way, I don't see a point.

Next chapter will have two alternatives. The bad ending, which will be posted as a separate story, and the good ending, which will continue on in the next chapter. Then, there will be an epilogue-like chapter, and the sequel will pretty much take off from chapter 11, but it will be far more fast paced.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 10 : _Saying Goodbye_**

"Gaara?" Naruto called fearfully when she went limp inside his arms.

She had fainted.

He tried to open the door of Dr. Himi's office, but it was locked. Both her and Dr. Mieko were sharing the same office for now, and considering Gaara's situation, at least one of them was supposed to always be in that office. No one was there.

Cursing, he lifted her into his arms and strode down towards the nurse station. "I need a obstetrician, now. Is Dr. Himi off duty?"

"I'm here, Hokage-sama." he breathed out a relieved sigh when he saw the doctor talking with three nurses inside the station.

"Something is wrong with Gaara. She said she couldn't use her chakra." he told her quickly as she walked up to them. He didn't like the look the nurses exchanged.

Before he could say anything, his clone appeared with a jar full of sand. The sand flew off the jar to cover Gaara's stomach like a blanket. To his concern, most of the sand fell to the floor midway, then started floating strangely like it had been doing before.

Dr. Himi walked up to them and placed her hands on her covered stomach. The sand started moving, as if Gaara was in danger, but it didn't move to attack the doctor. She still looked warily at it.

"You're a jounin, you can deal with her unconscious shield. Tell me what's wrong." Naruto told her sharply when he saw the doctor was hesitating.

"Yes, sir." she said quickly. As soon as her hands began to shine she flinched, as if something had hit her, and the sand became even more erratic. She grimly turned to the nurses and nodded, "I need an ICU room." Both quickly rushed away.

The third nurse, who had left as soon as the doctor had approached him, came to him with a stretcher. "Place her here, Hokage-sama." she requested in a quiet voice.

Once Dr. Himi stepped away, Naruto gently laid Gaara on the bed. His clone started scooping the sand off the floor, pouring it on the bed by Gaara's feet.

Dr. Himi turned to him, looking extremely serious. "Hokage-sama. Her chakra system is collapsing, and nothing can be done." she informed him slowly once Gaara was settled on the thin mattress. "I'll leave her on observation so we can take her into surgery as soon as possible. You can stay with her if you wish."

His body went cold. "Surgery? You can't do surgery on Gaara. The sand..."

Dr. Himi's expression became grim. "She's dying, Hokage-sama. If we remove the children as soon as her shield becomes inactive, we might be able to save them." she explained neutrally.

Naruto couldn't wrap his mind around her words.

"She... She isn't... She's alive! Why aren't you doing anything?" he demanded, angry at her complacency.

"Nothing can be done." she repeated, as calm as before. He growled and pulled on Kurama's powers to heal Gaara. "Don't!" the doctor exclaimed. Naruto gasped as an electrical shock ran up his arm almost as soon as he touched her. Before he could do anything, Gaara's sand shoved him away so strongly he tripped over his feet. He quickly regained his balance and the sand fell limply to the floor. "Don't try to heal her, Hokage-sama! You can't do anything, and the backlash might kill your children too." she warned tightly.

"How do you know if you haven't tried?" the doctor just watched him with a pained look. "She can't be dying."

"You can stay with her, she might become conscious again during the day." she explained wearily.

"How long until...?" he couldn't finish the sentence, the words got stuck in his throat.

"I don't know. Kunoichi are usually unable to detect anything at so early an stage, you can only tell something is wrong because of her kekkei genkai. When the convulsions start, it can take anywhere from ten to twenty hours until death. She'll likely remain alive for at least a day." he squeezed his eyes shut.

The doctor reached out to place a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it away. "Don't."

"Forgive me, Hokage-sama." she bowed.

He turned away from her and hesitantly reached towards Gaara again. Now that his chakra was at rest, he didn't feel any shocks when he touched her. Her arm was warm.

She looked like she was just sleeping. She couldn't be dying.

Unbidden, the image of her lying dead in front of him came from his memories to haunt him. She had been so pale, so cold. But right now, she had a healthy flush on her cheeks, her chest was moving up and down with her breath. She was alive.

"Hokage-sama. I'll take her to her room, come with us." the nurse who had brought the stretcher requested gently.

"The doctor hasn't tried to do anything, there must be something..." he began.

"This has no cure, Hokage-sama. She isn't our first patient to experience it and she won't be our last, there's no need for us to bring her and your children more harm and suffering with needless exams." the nurse explained gently – far gentler than most nurses he had met.

He silently followed her as she pushed the stretcher down the corridor, holding tightly onto Gaara's hand. The room they were in was small, with place for four patients, but all the beds were empty.

"Help me place her on the bed?" Naruto took Gaara in his arms, then gently laid her on the hospital bed. He watched in silence as several monitors were attached to her. "We're not going to put her on IV drip, trying to get around her shield will probably do more harm than good. If she feels thirsty, there's water here." she tapped a jar on the bedside table.

"I understand why chakra can't cure her, but isn't there any medicine you can give her to make her better?" Naruto asked from the nurse.

"Anything that tampers with her chakra would only hurt her, Hokage-sama." the nurse told him with a shake of her head. "If there's anything you need, press the call button." she pointed towards a button near Gaara's head. He nodded silently unable to get any words out.

The nurse removed the sheet from the stretcher and poured Gaara's sand by her feet, only then she left the room. Naruto was left staring at the monitor screens – everything looked fine, nothing was red like before. There was nothing wrong.

"You can't be dying. How come you look fine and..." his voice broke and he pressed her open palm against his eyes. "You can't leave me. Please wake up. Tell me you're going to be fine."

Gaara didn't move.

It was his fault. She was dying because of him. But thinking like that made him feel even guiltier, because he didn't want to regret his sons. He didn't want to wish they had never existed. But he did.

"I'll tell them you loved them." his voice broke as he promised her out loud. "I'll be the best father in all of the Land of Fire."he squeezed her hand. "I'll love them. Just, please wake up one more time." he begged of her.

She wouldn't have passed out if he had brought her sand along. That was his fault too. She could be awake...

...Awake and suffering, knowing she was going to die. Maybe it was for the best that she didn't wake up at all. If she was awake, she would know. He couldn't keep the truth from her, it wasn't right.

"Don't wake up." he forced himself to whisper, then leaned over and rested his head against her stomach as he watched her peaceful face through his tears.

Gaara was strong. She should be one of those rare active ninjas who grew old, gray and wrinkled, because nothing could kill them other than time. Yet, there still weren't any wrinkles on her face, she was still beautiful. She barely looked any older than twenty, even if she was almost thirty like him.

"You can't die yet. Why aren't you fighting back? Why did you let me kill you?" he whispered through tears. Gaara didn't give him a response.

He started when he felt one of the babies move against his cheek. He bit his lip and closed his eyes, listening to them, love and hurt filling his chest. "You two have to survive." he whispered. If, after everything, none of them survived... He couldn't even bear the thought.

He opened his eyes again and watched Gaara, trying to clear his mind of all thoughts but the image of her lying there, peacefully sleeping. For a while, he could do it, listening to the hushed sounds coming from outside, and his sons' and Gaara's heartbeats inside her.

He didn't know how long he sat there, until a strange feeling washed over him. He hesitantly sat up, looking around the room, wondering what had brought on the feeling.

His heartbeat stuttered when Gaara's sand, still fluctuating by her feet, suddenly fell limp to the bed. His eyes went to the heart monitor first, expecting to see a flat line, but her heart was still beating.

She was alive, but her sand had stopped doing that... Did that mean she was going to be fine? He felt hope fill his chest.

He nearly jumped off his chair when the door opened, and let out a heavy sigh when he saw it was only Dr. Himi. He hadn't felt her approaching. "Hokage-sama." she bowed after she closed the door behind her. She was holding a bag, and he eyed it askance.

But he quickly ignored it, innocent as it looked. "Dr. Himi! Something's different! Her sand stopped acting weird, can you check to see if she's alright?" the doctor eyed the sand blankly, but then she nodded firmly and walked up to them.

Unlike before, the sand didn't act like Gaara was being threatened as she approached. That wasn't good, either, because Gaara's sand had always acted off around her. Gaara didn't really like Dr. Himi, even if she respected her. Gaara didn't like doctors, period. Her sand acted off around all of them, unless it was Sakura or Tsunade examining her, or sometimes Dr. Mieko.

Did that mean she got worse, instead of better? She was so bad that her shield wasn't functioning anymore? He curbed the urge to pace as he stared at the doctor, clenching his teeth to keep himself from asking her if Gaara's condition was worse. At least this time she was giving her a proper exam, instead of a failed attempt at one.

"Her condition remains stable, Hokage-sama. In fact..." she acted a little suspicious, glancing outside the room. "...since you brought Kazekage-sama to the hospital so quickly, before the onset of convulsions, there may be a way to cure her."

Naruto's eyes widened, and he stared at her. "A way? You said there was nothing you could do!" he finished with a whisper when she placed a finger over her lips in a request for silence.

"Officially, there's nothing I can do." she said grimly. "This treatment is dangerous, and it hasn't been fully tested. It's a dangerous gambit, and I might lose my license if other people realize I'm doing this... but it's shown promise during research."

Naruto watched her warily. "...It might hurt Gaara?" he wondered quietly.

She gave him a single nod. "You see, the threat to her life currently lies on her chakra. Because her circulatory system's been damaged, it's out of control and causing damage to her organs. As time goes by, she will start to suffer irreparable damage to her organs and brain, that's what causes death." Naruto felt his throat constrict as he listened to her explanation. "The treatment consists of draining her chakra until it can no longer damage her while her body works to repair her circulatory system. But she will be so drained that she might potentially die from chakra drain. Would you like me to try?"

Naruto froze, watching the doctor. She watched him back, calm, waiting for an answer. He couldn't...

...There was risk to Gaara's life, but what would happen if she didn't try? "Is there any chance she'll recover on her own?" he asked quietly.

"No. Her body will be unable to heal while her chakra is breaking it apart." Naruto squeezed his eyes shut.

"Heal her." he decided, his heart heavy.

"I can't do it here. My career will be jeopardized if anyone finds out. I'll release her, and treat her in your home." he felt even more anxious, but he hesitantly nodded. She removed several papers from the bag she had brought and asked him to sign them – they were release forms, placing the responsibility of Gaara's health on his shoulders. He didn't hesitate to sign once he had read everything.

She placed the papers on the bedside table. "A nurse will be here to take the documents." she explained as she carefully began to turn off the machines and remove the wires from Gaara. "Here. You have a way of getting us out of this room without anyone seeing, don't you?"

He nodded. He carefully lifted Gaara in his arms, taking along the sheet which held her sand. "Hold onto my arm." As soon as he felt her grip strong, he transported them into their bedroom. He gently laid Gaara on their futon, then watched as the doctor opened the bag and started removing wires from it.

He watched in silence as she set up a much smaller monitoring device, then secured it to two of Gaara's fingers and her thumb. As soon as the numbers appeared on the screen, it started to beep – it sounded like the emergency beeps that made nurses come when something was wrong.

"We need to lower this marker." she pointed to a bright red number on the corner of the monitor. "I will do so by lowering her chakra reserves." she pointed to another, blue number. It read "99%", but when the doctor hit a few buttons, it read "9937" instead. "I'll leave this machine here so you can monitor her. If, at any point, her heart rate becomes red, or her chakra reserves go bellow ten marks for more than two minutes, you need to give her a chakra transfusion. Do you know how to do it?"

"Yes. I've learned it." he agreed. It was an essential skill on the field, he had taken too long to learn.

"Good. Sit down and get settled, then, this will take a while." As the doctor sat by her side and rested her hand over her stomach, the number quickly began to drop, but still slow enough that he was fairly sure they could stay hours there until they got her reserves in the single digits.

Naruto settled by Gaara's side, half on the futon and half on the floor. He reached for Gaara's hand and held it, his eyes alternating between watching her, and the lowering number.

The minutes dragged by, until he saw Gaara was starting to get pale. He threw the doctor a concerned look – she was very concentrated on her job, so he said nothing.

When Gaara's hand became cold and started to sweat, he didn't hold his tongue. "Something is wrong." she looked up, startled, then looked down at their joined hands.

"She's losing chakra too quickly. Cold sweat is an usual response." she guessed right his concern. Naruto sighed heavily and looked at the monitor. Her chakra reserves were less than a third of their initial amount now. A glance at the clock told him they had been at it for almost an hour, but the numbers were dropping quicker now than they had been at first.

He watched as Gaara grew even paler, and her hand became cold as ice. His eyes filled with tears as he ran his thumb over the back of her hand, but he said nothing.

Ten minutes later, he started when the machine's beeping became louder and more alarming. Her heart rate and chakra reserves were blinking red numbers. The doctor did something, then her heart rate once again stabilized, but the beeping didn't stop.

"...Is this alright?" he asked shakily.

"Yes, she's suffering from chakra exhaustion. That's what we're aiming for." she explained calmly. Naruto squeezed Gaara's hand.

Naruto watched in alarm as her chakra reserves dropped and dropped, until it was eight and the monitor's alarm was blaring. But the only number that had been red at first was now blue, and Dr. Himi didn't seem alarmed.

She took a flashlight and shone it on Gaara's eyes. She seemed satisfied with what she saw. "She's taking well to the treatment." she told him firmly.

Naruto swallowed. "Are you sure?" a single nod was his only response. "Her chakra reserves are bellow ten marks."

"Her body will fix this soon. As soon as it does, I'll leave. It might drop once again, only worry about it if it drops bellow five marks, or if it stays bellow ten marks for more than two minutes. If either happen, give her enough chakra to go above fifty marks, but bellow a hundred." She stood from the floor, then covered Gaara with and eiderdown. "Keep her warm and hydrated. She must remain drained for at least two hours, ideally five hours, but no more than ten. Once about five hours pass, get her levels above one thousand, at least, if they haven't recovered on their own."

"You're going to leave?" he asked shakily.

"I must. You can't tell anyone it was me who treated her." Naruto swallowed, but nodded slowly.

"...Do you need me to take you back?" he asked quietly.

"I need you to watch her closely. I'll get back to the hospital on my own." she told him with a shake of her head. Before she even finished speaking, Gaara's chakra reserves suddenly rose until they were at eleven marks. A pained groan came from her lips, and Naruto paled as he watched her shiver. "That's not unusual. Remember that being drained isn't good, specially during pregnancy." Dr. Himi explained.

"...But she'll be fine now?" he asked quietly.

"She'll be fine. The worst risk to her life was during the draining process. The babies were also unaffected. Just be careful to give her a transfusion if you see any of the signs I warned you of." he nodded quickly. "I'll be taking my leave then."

"...My clone will see you out." he told her quietly, part of him wanting to beg her to stay. Dr. Himi wouldn't take well to that, though – she had never been as helpful as she was being at the moment, specially with him. She liked Gaara about as much as Gaara liked her. She was still one of their best – as she had just proven.

After she left, Naruto turned to watch over Gaara once again, squeezing her cold hand tight between his, glancing at the monitor every few seconds. It was fluctuating wildly – anywhere between nine and thirty marks, but it never got over nor bellow those amounts, and never for more than two minutes.

Almost five hours later, it stopped fluctuating and slowly, steadily, it began to rise. At just bellow fifty marks, he held his breath when he saw her eyelids flutter.

"You're waking. Wake up, wake up, please talk to me." he whispered, suddenly feeling all the hope he didn't dare to feel for hours. "Come on, Gaara, let me see your beautiful eyes." he begged. "Wake up, talk to me. You can do it."

* * *

The first thing she was aware of was that someone was gripping her hand tightly.

It was hard to think, let alone pay attention to her environment, but the ninja in her forced her to catalog what was happening. She heard someone whispering words she couldn't understand.

Naruto.

She felt him kiss her forehead and struggled to open her eyes. It felt like forever, but she finally managed.

She felt exhausted.

"Gaara!" Naruto murmured, "You're awake. Thank god!"

She looked around, feeling confused. She wasn't supposed to be here... "Home." her weak whisper conveyed her confusion. Naruto's mouth turned into a bitter smile as he reached out and ran his thumb fondly over her cheek.

"Home." he repeated, nodding. "They could do nothing for you in the hospital. Dr. Himi wanted to try something on you, but it was illegal. The treatment hasn't been tested yet. So I brought her here." Gaara looked around, expecting to see the doctor. "She left a few hours ago."

"...hours?" she asked weakly. "...exhausted..."

"She drained nearly all your chakra. It'll take a little while until you're fully recovered." Gaara's eyes widened. Naruto was right – she was drained. There was so little chakra in her body she couldn't even feel her sand.

Her chakra levels were down to dangerous low. If this was the untested 'treatment', she could definitely understand why Dr. Himi could get herself in trouble by performing it – and potentially killing her patient over an ineffective treatment.

"But it worked. You're alive." Naruto breathed out in relief, running his thumb over her cheek. "You're alive."

She tried to raise her hand, and only then she realized her hand was connected to something. She weakly turned to the side, and saw a small machine much like the ones at the hospital sitting on the floor by her side, monitoring her pulse and other things she couldn't tell.

She closed her eyes and it was hard to open them again. "Please stay awake. Don't leave me." Naruto whimpered, squeezing her hand.

"...too tired..." she murmured. She was feeling the urge to sleep again, and it was messing with her thought processes. She could see Naruto was desperate, so she tried to force herself to stay awake. For him.

He talked with her, trying to keep her from sleep, but it didn't take long before she could no longer discern his words. His voice, though it was intended to keep her awake, soothed her and made her few safer.

It suddenly felt like she was falling and she jerked awake, gripping Naruto's hand in a desperate effort to keep herself from falling. "Gaara!" Naruto watched her with worry as the machine by her side beeped in alarm at her pounding heart. "I'll get Dr..."

"'S ok." she quickly slurred, interrupting him. "Need sleep." she had experienced the feeling before, several times, just before sleep took her. A doctor said once it happened because she was too reluctant to fall asleep.

"Don't sleep! She'll be here soon." Naruto told her louder, squeezing her hand.

But she couldn't fight sleep. It triggered a fear reflex, and her sand's reaction no doubt upset her chakra system. She needed to surrender.

So next time she felt sleep coming, she allowed it to overcome her.

* * *

She startled awake to see a shining hand over her chest. "...lucky she's alive." Dr. Himi's was chiding someone.

"She cured her." Naruto told her stubbornly.

"There's no cure to a chakra system collapse. She lied to you in an attempt to kill your wife, you're lucky she was incompetent and didn't manage to." the doctor corrected him. Gaara had closed her eyes again, only listening to them.

"How do you explain the fact Gaara's alive and well if she didn't get treated, then?" Naruto ground out. "Why would she even have gone through the trouble to steal that machine from the hospital if she didn't want her alive? You said she was already dying, why bother risking getting caught at all?"

"I don't know, Hokage-sama. But you should have realized she meant no good when she suggested draining your wife of chakra. That's not a treatment – most times we need to do chakra transfusions to keep people alive!" the doctor chided again.

"The way she explained it made sense. She's not an enemy, she probably just used a genjutsu so she wouldn't be punished if her attempt failed. She didn't need to worry, I signed the waiver." Naruto argued.

"You're being too naive, Hokage-sama." the doctor took her hand back. "Your wife's fine now, but you should bring her back to the hospital so we can monitor her health."

"No." Naruto growled. "You told me yourself there's no cure. Everyone there, all that they did was look sorry she was dying. No one did a damn thing..."

"There's nothing to be done in these cases." she doctor sighed.

"Then leave my house and let Gaara rest. If you can't do anything, then don't." he snapped.

"We can save the children once..." she began, but Naruto cut through her words.

"Fuck you." he cried out. "You're not going to wait until Gaara dies just to cut her open. If you can't do anything, just get the fuck away from my home."

Gaara forced her eyes open just in time to see Dr. Himi stiffly bow towards him. "When she dies, you need to bring her as quickly as possible. Time's of essence."

"Leave, now!" Naruto ordered her, so loud Gaara winced as his voice rang through the room.

"Hokage-sama." she ground out, attempting to be polite, then left in a blur of falling leaves. Naruto growled once the two of them were alone.

"Naruto..." he quickly turned to her, and she could see his eyes were deep red, and the marks on his cheeks were a lot more pronounced.

"Gaara, you're awake!" he rushed to her side and held her hand again.

"I feel better than before." she told him quietly. It wasn't an effort to move anymore, even as she felt tired. She could also feel her sand – it had reformed into its usual gourd as soon as the doctor had left the room. When Naruto saw it, his face lit up with so much hope and happiness.

"You're cured." he said shakily, holding up the container of sand. "The treatment worked. You're all better." she watched him in confusion.

"Cured of what?" she asked quietly. She was alarmed when Naruto's eyes filled with tears.

"Nothing. Nothing really. It doesn't matter anymore." he told her through weak, relieved laugher.

But it did matter. Naruto looked pale and exhausted, and if she understood anything from the tail of the conversation she had heard, "I was dying."

Naruto's face contorted into pain, as if she had kicked him in the stomach. He gently placed her sand down, then knelt by her side and held her hand. "You almost did. Someone saved you. I thought she was Dr. Himi, but apparently she fooled me with a genjutsu. I wish we knew who she was, she would do far better as our doctor than _her_."

Gaara squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry, Naruto." she said quietly. His eyes were still full of tears. "...I'm really sorry for making you feel so much pain. I should have pushed you away."

Naruto looked indignant. "What? You don't really think I would be fine with your death if..."

"You wouldn't be this sad." she cut him quickly, reaching over with her other hand and running her little finger over his falling tears, the monitor still connected to her index and middle fingers, as well as her thumb.

"Yes, I would! You've always been important to me, Gaara. You were what I could have been, you became what I wanted to be. I've always looked up to you..." he stopped with a sharp intake of breath as she covered his lips with her two free fingers.

"I wasn't your lover. We weren't this close before... My death wouldn't make you cry this much. I've encouraged your feelings for me to grow, knowing I won't be here to reciprocate them." Naruto looked crushed as a sob shook his frame.

"Stop saying that, you're not going to die." he said faintly, his lips brushing her fingers.

"I am." she told him quietly. "Apparently, I nearly did." she hid a wince as his grip on her hand tightened. "Maybe I should move into Shikamaru's..." she gasped in pain as his grip tightened even more. Naruto's hands opened and let hers go.

"No! You're not going anywhere. Please." Naruto leaned over and hugged her, lying his face over her chest. "Don't leave me, not now."

"It's best that I leave you while I'm alive, so you have time to get used to it..." she began, but he interrupted her.

"No! Don't do it, please don't. If you're so sure you're going to die, let me say goodbye." she swallowed painfully, tears filling her own eyes.

"Then say it." her voice sounded deeper in her pain. "I'm listening. Say goodbye."

"Not now. Not like this." Naruto whimpered, holding her tighter. "Let me do it my way. I need more time."

"We don't have more time." her words were barely a murmur.

"Then give me as much time as you can. Promise me?" she closed her eyes, letting her tears fall.

"You're trying to..." he interrupted her.

"Promise me? Stay with me." she grit his teeth.

"Naruto..."

"I'll be fine. What difference does it make, if you leave now or later? It'll hurt the same. I can deal with it. Give me a little more time. Please." Gaara looked down at him when he moved, so their eyes met. His eyes were blue once again, but the whites were reddened from his tears.

"It won't hurt the same." she disagreed. But she couldn't say no to his eyes, they were begging her not to. "I'll stay." she whispered weakly.

Naruto buried his face on her neck and held her tight once again. "Thank you. Thank you."

"...You won't thank me later." she murmured, feeling her chest heavier with guilt.

"Yes, I will. I'll never regret this." she tensed.

"Don't you dare promise me that. You have the right to regret a mistake." she told him tightly.

"It's not a mistake." Naruto mumbled.

"Yes, it is. No matter the outcome, this is a mistake. At worst, I'm making you a widower before you're thirty, at best, we might both get heartbroken from the backlash of a relationship rushed during stressful times." Naruto snorted against her neck.

"You're not comparing us to those idiots who got married during the war, are you?" he snickered.

"I am." she sighed, exasperated. Naruto laughed. "It's not funny." she frowned.

"It's just, I got this image in my head, of you acting like one of those heartsick teenage girls being dramatic in the war." he said between chuckles. Gaara pursed her lips and said nothing else. "I promise I won't make any drama if you decide to divorce me." he sounded far too cheerful for the words he was speaking.

"You should take this more seriously." she said grimly.

"I am. I'm taking you seriously. But I still doubt we have anything to do with them." she sighed at his words. "If nothing else, I have a genius wife who thinks everything through for both of us."

"Who's been irresponsible like a teenager for the past several months." she loathed to admit it, but it was nonetheless true.

"Do like Sakura and blame everything on the pregnancy hormones." he suggested. Gaara huffed, but she felt a small smile curving her lips as he started to tell her about the stupid things his friend had been up to lately.

It didn't take long for Naruto's melodic voice to lull her into sleep once again. This time, Naruto just lied by her side as she relaxed and closed her eyes, instead of trying to force her to stay awake.

* * *

Naruto shook her awake hours later. He served her several fruits he had cut up, and she realized she had eaten nothing today. "What time is it?" She asked quietly as she sat up.

"Two in the afternoon." he replied quietly. "I told Temari what happened, and she said she'll come visit you in two hours. Do you want me to tell her you need rest?"

She shook her head as she chewed on a piece of apple. Once she had swallowed, she replied aloud. "No, that's fine. I feel better now, just a little tired."

"Your chakra reserves are full again. I don't think you need this anymore." he removed the sensors from her hand, then unplugged the machine so it would stop beeping. Naruto hadn't told her yet what had happened, but she could make an educated guess. She didn't want to see him sad again, so she didn't ask. "I've asked Tsunade to try and find the doctor who treated you."

She frowned, trying to remember what had happened earlier. "Someone impersonated Dr. Himi?"

"Yeah. They were bad at it too, I should have realized she was being too nice. She actually explained what was happening, instead of acting like my lack of a medical training made me stupid." Gaara nodded slowly.

Naruto continued. "Everything she told me, it gave me an idea. I've talked with Tsunade about it, and she thinks it might work... Do you remember how you used to take Shukaku's power from your seal?" she nodded. "Do you think you can push your own chakra into the seal?"

She frowned. "Yes, but won't that be dangerous?"

"No. Your seal is directly connected to your chakra core. Doing that isn't dangerous like, say, manipulating your sand. If you make sure you're constantly drained, the risk to your life shouldn't be as high. But if something goes awry, you can always take your chakra back."

"The seal wasn't designed to do something like that... What if it starts leaking?" she asked quietly.

"I'll change it. It won't leak. I have a few ideas in mind. Tsunade only said that you should make sure not to drain yourself too much, because the babies need your chakra to develop." Naruto grinned. "But once you start doing that, you should be fine. You'll still be at risk, but the risk for women with chakra drain is ten times lower than the risk we're facing now."

"Shouldn't you be talking with Dr. Himi about this?" Naruto's put upon expression was answer enough. "Dr. Mieko, then?"

"I did. Tsunade knows more stuff about chakra storage, though, because of her seal." he tapped the middle of his forehead to illustrate his words. "Both of them said it's risky, but at this point, it's worth a try. They'll explain it better to you later." She nodded in silent agreement.

* * *

"Here." she placed a full cup of tea in front of her sister. Temari was looking around their house – it was already organized, and the inner garden was mostly tended to. The pond was clean, and they had removed all the weeds and dead plants, but the living plants and trees needed to be cropped.

"The garden looks better." her sister commented. She nodded slightly. "Are you and Naruto going to live in the compound while you're in Suna, or do you intend to get another place there too?"

She sat frozen for a second. She didn't know how to answer her sister at all. Temari seemed to read her unsaid words in her body language after a while, because she pursed her lips. "You should start thinking about that. The council will probably start demanding your return when the twins are a year old." Temari sounded too defensive not to have realized Gaara didn't think she would ever return.

"We will stay in the compound." she said to appease her. Realistically, it would have been better to live with Naruto in another building, considering he was the Hokage and most of Suna's secrets were concentrated in that building. But realistically, if they bought another house, Naruto would just have to sell it again when she died.

"Are you sure? I don't think the council will be happy with that decision." she frowned.

"The twins will be safer there, and that will be enough for them. Considering your children will be Naras, and Kankurou has no intention of settling, the twins are their only chance of having people of our bloodline as ninjas of Suna." she bluffed, and Temari nodded slowly, buying her phony argument.

"That would make sense." she sighed. "I still can't believe all this..." she shook her head slowly, then paused to sip her tea. Gaara watched as his sister's eyes trailed down to stare at her unbound breasts. Temari had been one of the people who had been the most shocked at finding out she was a woman, because she had never even suspected anything. "Why did you never say anything?"

"It was irrelevant." she explained uncomfortably. Temari's eyes narrowed.

"Irrelevant? You're pregnant! Were you really planning on giving birth on your own?" she demanded. Gaara set her jaw and stared at her sister.

"That's basically what I'm going to do. My sand shield stops nearly all medical interventions. They can't do anything but watch." she reminded her. Temari gritted her teeth.

"But you didn't know that. Your decision was pure irresponsibility." Gaara looked away. "Why, Gaara? If you had told us earlier..." her voice weakened.

"It wouldn't have mattered." she told her.

"Yes, it would! Things wouldn't have gotten this serious! They could have controlled..."

"Their medicine isn't working now, I doubt they would have been able to do anything for me then." she interrupted her sister. Temari shut her eyes.

She looked angry, but she said nothing. Temari set the cup down with a clink and stood. Gaara sighed, believing she would walk away and leave the house, but to her surprise, Temari walked around the table and knelt by her side.

Gaara was shocked when her sister reached out and wrapped her arms around her. She tensed and sat awkwardly in the hug at first, but then hesitantly wrapped her arms around Temari's shoulders when she felt a silent sob wrack her sister's body.

Temari showed no other sign that she was crying. They sat there, hugging each other for what felt like forever. Gaara felt her back start burning with pain from the awkward position, but she didn't try to move, nor did she complain. Temari needed this. She was grieving her death.

"I love you, Gaara." she whispered against her ear. "Forgive me for being the worst sister..." her voice disappeared. Gaara patted her back, feeling her own eyes fill with tears, unable to say anything to her sister. She needed to tell her something, anything, but the words were stuck in her throat.

Temari sniffled and gently pushed at her shoulders, parting them away from their hug. Her mussed make up was the only indication she had been crying, but Gaara's eyes were still full of tears.

"I'm leaving for Suna tonight." her voice was once again composed. Gaara was confused by her sudden decision. "The Elder council doesn't want all three of us here in Konoha, and Kankurou wants..." she licked her lips. "He wants to talk with Naruto. Be the big brother, and everything." she finished with a small smile.

Kankurou wanted to say goodbye to her. She nodded silently.

"I'll watch over your duties there until the twins are born, then I'll return to visit you. I guess by then you and Naruto will be able to use the shadow clone trick you mean to use in order to live in both places at once, right?"

"You'll become Kazekage, then." she corrected her in a whisper. Temari looked like she had slapped her, but Gaara was sick of tiptoeing around this. She did it with Naruto every day. "I've reached the ninth month. My chances of survival will be lowered each day I remain pregnant. You should prepare yourself for the possibility that I won't survive."

"You're acting like you have zero chances. It's not like that." Gaara smiled weakly at her sister.

"So are you. You're here, saying goodbye to me. That's fine. I'm not offended, Temari. I know you're not giving up on me for being cautious. Above everything else, we're ninjas, and we haven't survived this long by ignoring evidence." Temari closed her eyes and looked defeated. "You were a good sister, Temari. Our relationship didn't start off well, but I thank you for all the support you have given me for all these years. If it wasn't for you and Kankurou, I wouldn't have achieved everything that I did. I was only able to return for the dark place I was in because the two of you held my hands and guided me while I was blind." tears began to fall from Temari's eyes again.

"You... I'm happy to have seen you grow into the great woman you became, in spite of everything that happened to you. I'm sorry I hurt you when you were young, and I'm sorry you never grew to trust me completely." Gaara averted her eyes. "I really hope I'll have a second chance to earn your trust. Please don't give up, Gaara, you're the only person who has the weapons to fight this battle. You and Naruto. Remain strong." Gaara closed her eyes when Temari placed her hand over her tattoo. "Mom is here, watching over you. She will help you have a safe delivery, just don't give up. I know you already have, everyone can see you already have, but you have to take up arms again. Draw hope from that endless of well of hope that is your husband. Please."

Gaara chuckled at Temari's description of Naruto. She was right, really. She opened her eyes to see Temari smiling. "You're so happy. Naruto's making you happy. I wish all this shit didn't have to happen for you to get together, because he's clearly good for you. Naruto is placing his hopes on you, place your hopes on him, too. He can heal you. You will survive."

Gaara stared at the floor. Maybe he could. But... "The chances are still low." she reminded her. "He can't heal me from a chakra backlash." Or maybe he could, if his seal worked...

"So they say. They also say you should be dying right now. I've read about this disease. Women who have it look really ill. You don't." Temari told her firmly. "Whatever you and Naruto are doing, it's changing everything. As far as we know, you might even not be at risk at all. The doctors just won't admit they don't know anything out of pride." Gaara just sighed. "Promise me you won't give up, Gaara."

"I promise." she agreed, hesitantly. Temari grinned and patted her shoulder.

"Good! I'll return when my nephews are born, then. I'll expect you to introduce them to me properly." she stood up, then reached down to help Gaara to her feet. Gaara took her hands and allowed her to pull her up. Temari hugged her again. "I'll see you soon." she said firmly.

"If you don't..." Gaara trailed off when Temari placed a finger over her lips.

"You promised." she reminded her, eyes narrowed. Gaara's expression softened.

"I'll see you soon." Gaara repeated her words quietly. Temari smiled, then turned and walked away. "Be a good Kazekage." she whispered once the door closed behind her sister.

* * *

Naruto's idea worked.

As an unfortunate side effect, she was always exhausted and oversensitive nowadays. But being inside the water helped her relax, and Naruto was more than happy to stay there with her, helping her float and making her company. They were going to a pool, now, instead of the river, and the water was far warmer. The pool was in the Sarutobi's house, and Konohamaru had been more than happy to welcome them in his home whenever they needed it.

This morning, she was just too tired to leave her futon. Not that Naruto allowed her to sleep.

"What?" she mumbled, when he nudged her for the third time.

"Are you going to watch the fireworks with me tonight?" Gaara groaned.

Today was the last day of the year. It was a special day, and had she been in Suna, she would be dragged around parties from dawn until dusk, so people would leave her be on the first of January.

Naruto was probably experiencing something similar now. Only thinking about it made her want to sleep. She closed her eyes. "I'll take that as a no." he said after a low chuckle.

"Can we watch it from our backyard? Alone?" she murmured, hopeful.

"Are you sure you don't want to go out? You haven't really socialized a lot lately..." he was worried.

"Do you really want me to go to a social party, where I'll be expected to wear a dress and stand up for hours?" she grumbled.

"Sakura will throw a private party. Friends only. You can probably spend the whole party lying on her couch and no one will mind." he offered.

She wrinkled her nose. "I would never do that, Naruto. It's disrespectful."

"She'll probably do it, herself. She complains about back pains all the time, now. She isn't even showing." Naruto mumbled. Gaara only hummed and turned her back to him. "You don't really complain about back pain."

"Complaining about it won't make it hurt any less." she murmured.

"So, it does hurt?" she turned around and stared at him. "Ok, ok, that was a stupid question. Do you think a massage will help?"

"...If you massage me, Yuraku might take it as invitation to kick me." she pushed her fingers into her stomach, and her child predictably moved. "See?"

"I mean your back." Naruto reached over and rubbed her back. She sighed in pleasure and closed her eyes. "Let me try." he stood and moved behind her to massage her back.

She enjoyed if for a few minutes. Then, a stab of pain took her by surprise. "Ow."

"Sorry." Naruto patted lightly the stop he had been massaging.

"...It wasn't you. I think this is a contraction." she placed a hand against her navel. Naruto froze behind her.

"Contraction? Are you going into labor?" he turned her around and looked into her eyes. Lying on her back made the pain worse.

"Maybe." she said hesitantly.

"I'll call the..." she grabbed his hand before he could stand.

"Don't panic, Naruto." she admonished him. "It might be a fake contraction."

"What if it isn't?" he watched her with worry.

"If it isn't, we will know soon enough. Just continue massaging me. It feels good." she turned on her side again, offering him her back.

"If you're sure..." he said hesitantly, complying to her wishes. She only hummed in agreement.

* * *

They were fake contractions. They came and went with no apparent pattern, and they only served to grant her wish to stay home. Naruto was freaking out too much to take her to any party. She probably shouldn't be feeling amused at the way he was panicking – maybe she should be panicking herself.

"Are you sure...?" Naruto began when he saw her wince.

She couldn't help chuckling. "I'm fine."

"I don't see what's funny about this." Naruto pouted.

"You're too stressed. Go out and have some fun. Leave a clone with me." she pushed on his shoulder.

"No." he scoffed. "You're insane to be suggesting that. We should be in the hospital."

"I'm not in labor." she repeated for the umpteenth time, this time smiling.

"What if something is wrong?" he fretted again.

"I would probably be feeling it. Being in the hospital always makes me feel worse, and there's no reason for me to go." she shook her head.

"Can I bring Sakura here, then?" she just waved her hand, wordlessly telling him to do whatever he wanted.

When Naruto returned ten minutes later, and he repeated to her the telling off Sakura had given him over the phone, she laughed again.

Sakura came over either way, for Naruto's peace of mind. He stopped worrying when she came to the conclusion nothing was wrong, and told them to go on a walk to try and relax.

Walking in the woods did make the contractions stop. Naruto decided to make a picnic for them over the hill during dinner.

As midnight approached, she sat in Naruto's arms, with her back against his chest as he sat with his back against a tree. Neither were looking at clocks, but they knew the moment midnight arrived, because the sky lit up with fireworks.

"Happy New Year." he murmured against her ear, caressing her stomach. "I hope this will be a really happy year for you."

"Happy New Year." she turned her head around and kissed his cheek. At the last second he turned, and kissed her lips instead.

They watched the fireworks, and once all of the dark smoke dispelled, they sat and watched the stars together, until she fell asleep inside his arms.

* * *

It happened suddenly, over the night. In the last day of December, only select few knew Naruto was married and expecting children.

On the first day of the year, the Hokage Tower was getting flooded with letters of well wishes and gifts for the children. Everyone was speculating who was the mystery woman – Hinata was a very common guess, and an elaborated conspiracy theory about a sordid love triangle between Naruto, Kakashi and Hinata was going around like wildfire.

Sakura was struggling to keep her pregnancy a secret even more than before, least everyone think she was the one expecting Naruto's child – several people who knew already did. It helped her that she was just barely showing, she didn't even need genjutsu to hide her stomach. She was still keeping her daughter's father a tightly guarded secret, she wouldn't be able to refute people if they said Naruto was the father.

As to how the rumor spread, Gaara's best guess was that someone who knew drank too much alcohol in a party. Possibly a nurse, as most of Naruto's friends – including a clone of himself – had attended the party Sakura and Ino threw, and no one there would spread rumors while sober. It might have been one of the elders, but in that case, they were breaching their own rules against letting people know.

Naruto was having the time of his life with it – he sent several clones to the Hokage Tower by late afternoon, and they were opening all the gifts, and sending them storage cards full of photos so she could see.

"Gaara, look at this." Naruto laughed, showing her a doll that looked like him, in Hokage garb.

She studied the photo and shook her head, smiling. "Creative."

"I'm going to try and see if I can find this doll for sale, and get one for them. I wonder if they have dolls of you in Suna?"

"Possibly." the thought was somewhat disturbing. Dolls for children seldom looked blank faced, and seeing a Naruto-like grin on a face that looked like hers had the potential to be very creepy. "What are you going to do with all those toys?"

"...I don't know. Shikamaru wanted to burn them, but that doesn't sit well with me. I think I'll just ask Tenten to store all of it in one of her special storage seals for dangerous weapons, and leave it in my office."

No matter how many screenings were done by any number of highly skilled ninja, she refused to accept from strangers anything she knew her children would put in their mouths. Naruto, himself, was reluctant. At least the most sensible people had given Naruto money or gift cards to exchange for toys, instead. Envelops with these were easily the majority of the gifts sent. She didn't mind the books and decorative pieces, since their children wouldn't be touching them without their supervision – those Naruto was sending to the intelligence section for a month so his ninja could be very throughout with their analysis.

"Look at this!" Naruto laughed, showing her baby boots, created with wools of several shades of orange. The effect was very beautiful. "They can have this, can't they?"

"No." she scoffed, but she was smiling. He didn't look at all disappointed.

"I'm going to keep those in my shelf as decoration." he decided.

"You're aware it's unlikely whoever sent these made them in a morning, right?" Naruto beamed at her.

"So, if I find them for sale, can I buy two pairs?"

"Why not?" she agreed. He leaned in and kissed her lips, looking excited.

"You're the best wife ever, have I ever told you that?"

* * *

The three days of New Year celebration became a celebration of the news of Naruto's children as well. Naruto still had his hands tied, unable to give an official statement, despite the fact he really wanted to. But he smiled and thanked everyone who personally congratulated him, even strangers on the streets, and that was enough confirmation for most people.

She was glad people of Konoha were so happy about his children. Sometimes she wondered how people of Suna would react if they knew. She doubted their reaction would be good – to the news that their male Kazekage was really a woman, and pregnant. The thought of their rejection alone made her sad, so she didn't dwell on it.

Naruto had gone overboard buying toys and clothes with the money for the gifts, and one of the empty rooms was now a very colorful playroom.

On January 5th, her brother arrived from Suna.

"You have a pond in your house. Nice." Her brother remarked as he glanced curiously around the inner garden.

She was sitting on the floor by the low living room table, watching him silently. His eyes softened when he turned to look at her.

"You look happy." the words prompted a smile to turn her lips.

She was happy. Naruto seemed to have a small radar on him, every time she caught herself thinking about her health issues, he would distract her with something silly. Something which almost certainly made her smile.

"It's hard to be sad around him." she said vaguely.

"Ah. Naruto never lets sadness rest, does he?" Kankurou mumbled.

"I'm sorry." she told him quickly, almost as soon as the silence began to settle between them. "For not telling you earlier. I..." she trailed off and placed her hands on her stomach when Yukio moved.

"I'm sorry too. All of this is my fault, after all." he offered her a bitter little smile. Her eyes widened.

"No. No, it's not your fault, Kankurou." he turned away to look at the cherry tree outside. She felt cold. She had blamed him to his face for her night with Naruto, more than once. But to think he might actually feel the weight of her death on his shoulders chilled her blood. "It's not your fault." she repeated firmly.

"I got you drunk. You wouldn't have been careless with contraceptives if you were in your right mind. You would have been fine." Kankurou's voice weakened as he looked to the sky.

"I wouldn't have been a mother. I would never have given another person life. If you must feel responsible for this, then thank you for giving me this opportunity." Kankurou turned to her, his expression blank. "I spent so many years taking people's lives, Kankurou. This time... I'm giving someone life. It's an indescribable feeling. I would never have felt it if not for this. So blame yourself for that." she finished with a smile, tears filling her eyes.

Kankurou scowled. "This is so unfair. You don't deserve this shit." he cursed, looking away. "You deserve to be happy. I wanted you to be happy, to have someone nice by your side. You deserve to have the kind of love only a lover can give you." She felt tears run down her bare cheeks.

"I'm happy. I have Naruto... He's doing his best to show me what a husband's love feels like. Thank you, Kankurou." she put as much feeling as she possibly could in her last three words. She didn't want him to spend the rest of his life blaming himself for her death, he didn't deserve that, and that would have been her fault.

When he looked at her again, there was so much pain in his eyes. But he was smiling at her. "I can see you're not lying, but..." he didn't need to finish his sentence, she could see the grief in his expression. "...That's why this is so unfair." he finished in a whisper.

There was nothing she could say for that. She couldn't agree, and she couldn't disagree. Life was just... Life. It's fairness was in the eye of the beholder.

Kankurou straightened up and walked towards her. "I'm glad to see you're doing well. You don't look sick like before." he squeezed her shoulder. "I have some stuff to do, but I'll come visit you later."

He was in Konoha just to talk to her. Kankurou wasn't busy, but she could see he was seconds away from crying, and her brother loathed crying in front of anyone else.

"See you later." she said softly. When she heard the door click shut, she covered her eyes and cried. Her brother was in pain, and she felt so guilty. She felt guilty for unthinkingly making him feel responsible, she felt guilty for not trusting him before.

She didn't feel Naruto approach, so she was badly startled when she felt him kneel behind her and take her into his arms. She sagged against his chest, and placed her hands over his as he gently rubbed her stomach.

"Have you ever had a slow dance with a lover?" he asked suddenly. She silently shook her head, her throat too tight to attempt a spoken answer. "We'll have to correct that."

A shadow clone walked across the room and clicked the radio on, playing the soothing, instrumental music she favored sometimes. Naruto stood and pulled her to her feet, placed his hands on her waist and held her close against him and started to sway on his feet.

She blinked when his clone pressed himself flush against her back, once again resting his hands on her stomach. She leaned against him as the original rested a soft kiss on her forehead.

Her eyes closed as they swayed together for a long time. As her sadness was soothed, being surrounded by Naruto made her start to feel... something else.

She started again when another clone joined them, wrapping his arms on both of Naruto's waists and resting his face on the crook of her neck. She couldn't hold back a breathless chuckle. "Naruto!" she murmured. "Am I supposed to have three lovers?"

"If you want." she blushed as the clone whispered huskily against her ear. Naruto grinned against her skin. "I'm going to take that pretty little blush as a 'Yes, I do'."

"It really means 'Idiot'." she whispered, her last word cut out as Naruto took her lips into a kiss, and all his hands became a little more daring over her body.

Just like that, he made her forget her sadness again.

* * *

Her brother returned the following day, just as she had expected. What she didn't expect was the huge sealing scroll he brought with him. It was even bigger than the ones he stored his puppets in.

She was curious, but she didn't ask. This time, Naruto remained with them to have tea and talk, at Kankurou's request. The talk remained light.

"So, are you telling us what's that, or not?" Naruto asked Kankurou for the sixth time, once the conversation fell into another natural lull. Kankurou scoffed.

"Impatient, are we?" but he moved to spread the scroll by the low table, between Gaara and him. Gaara peered at the storage seal – it looked more complicated than average, but she wasn't knowledgeable enough in seals to know what the extra details meant. "It's just a few things I brought with me from Suna, for Gaara."

"What? I thought I had already gotten all her essentials." Naruto wondered, crawling behind her until he could see the seal more clearly. "Hm, looks delicate. That seal always fails."

Kankurou grimaced. "Don't say that. It was hell for me to bring this all the way from Suna, if anything's broken..."

"I could have brought it with the Hifuujin." Naruto reminded him. Her brother huffed.

"Too late now." he activated the seal, and a huge box was unsealed from the scroll.

In Matsuri's handwriting, at the side, it was written, ' _For Gaara_ '. She felt her chest tighten – she hadn't said goodbye to Matsuri. She didn't have the heart to say goodbye to anyone but her siblings and Naruto so far. It was selfish of her, but she just couldn't.

"A gift from Matsuri?" she wondered quietly.

"Not really. Not only from her. They're from a ton of people from our village, she just packaged it so it would arrive here in one piece. Open it." Kankurou lobbed a kunai at her, and she caught it easily. Hesitantly, she moved and very carefully broke the sealing tape.

She pulled the box open, and she saw a layer of cotton inside. Very gently she lifted it up, and her breath caught as she saw what was under.

"Geez, you were brave to bring all this glass in that seal." Naruto remarked, carefully lifting up a wind chime made of iridescent pink glass. The box was full of them, glass chimes of all colors and with all details, each cradled carefully in cotton, each one beautiful. "Safe birth, Kazekage-sama." Naruto read aloud the inscription on the paper hanging from the chime in his hands, looking surprised at the words.

Gaara covered her mouth with her hands, a single sob shaking her body as she stared at the box through tear filled eyes. Naruto looked alarmed at her. "Gaara?"

She couldn't answer him, sate his confusion. She was thankful when Kankurou leaned in and placed a hand on her shoulder, explaining to Naruto. "It's a Suna custom, Naruto. When a woman is pregnant, you give her a glass object to ward off evil spirits and protect both child and mother from everything that can go wrong in childbirth. The most common gift is a wind chime, so the sound will invite in good spirits."

"Oh." Naruto murmured, looking over the box with new eyes.

"We started getting these when I let the news of your gender and pregnancy leak from under the council's guard. The compound is brimming with them, but I couldn't bring them all, Matsuri stored the ones she liked best inside this box, after we screened them for traps."

Her people wanted her to live. They knew she had lied, and they still wanted her. They didn't hate her.

She really had become needed.

The sound that left her lips was strangled laugh, instead of the sob she was sure it would be. Naruto moved towards her and held her as she started to shake with silent laugher, her eyes full of tears.

"We got a life sized glass statue of you, too. It's pretty awesome, but I couldn't bring that here." Kankurou showed them a photo, a wide grin on his lips. The statue was of her usual battle pose, with her arms crossed over her chest and her gourd on her back. The gourd was hollow and full of sand.

"Holy shit, that looks awesome!" Naruto gaped. "It looks just like Gaara!"

"We have really good glass artisans, they're one of Suna's specialties." Kankurou said proudly. The next photo he showed was of thousands of wind chimes hanging from the ceiling of the front hall of the Kazekage compound.

Gaara turned away from the sight and buried her face onto Naruto's chest as she cried.

Naruto rubbed her back slowly, silent.

"Come on, Gaara, no time cry." he shook her gently after a few minutes. "We have to hang all of this up. I wonder how we're going to do that."

She looked up to see him form the clone seal, and suddenly the room was full of Narutos arguing with each other about punching holes on the ceiling or spreading ninja threads on the whole house to hold everything up. The second idea won.

She watched as Naruto and Kankurou set themselves to work – Kankurou was using his chakra and a puppet technique to strengthen the threads. As they worked, their living room was starting to look like a clothesline had been built near the ceiling – except it was full of tinkling wind chimes.

Some of the objects weren't chimes. She had gotten snow globes full of sand and figurines of sand spirits too.

"Hm, this one is wrapped." Naruto remarked as she picked up something on a gift box. It read ' _For Hokage-sama_ ' on the slip.

"This is for you." she told him with a confused blink, then held it out to him. "It has Matsuri's handwriting."

"Huh?" He opened the box and pulled from its cotton bed something which was definitely not a chime. It was an ornamental lantern, made from glass as well as wrought metal that shone with red and orange colors. Gaara's eyes widened and Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Wait, I think I remember this."

"...That's just Matsuri being Matsuri." she murmured with a smile, after they exchanged a long look. Naruto grinned at her, and he set the lantern on the table by her side.

She only realized what his grin meant when a clone came up to her and gave her a match box.

Gaara hesitated, but then she accepted the match box and carefully lit up the small candle attached inside the lantern.

"I'll treasure that." Naruto whispered by her ear, then delicately picked up the lantern and took it away.

She could only smile at him in response.

Naruto kept the lantern on a small table by their window, near a photo Sakura had taken of them, where both of them were smiling and holding her stomach. For the next two days, he asked her to relight the fire every time the small candle needed to be replaced, and she gave him a kiss every time she did.

* * *

"Why are nights always so hot here?" she fanned herself to try and ease a bit the stuffy feeling. It wasn't really helping.

Being inside Naruto's arms as they sat on the ground of their inner garden probably wasn't helping her case, either. They had been watching the stars, but she was feeling so hot there was sweat prickling her eyes. She never realized how annoying sweat was, until she couldn't use her sand armor to absorb it anymore. He laughed, "Says the Suna guy." he teased.

"Suna's heat is infinitely better than this wet, suffocating feeling." she muttered, unhappy. She was too lazy to stand and leave his arms, though she was sure it would have been more effective than the fan.

"How about we..." Naruto's words were cut by a sharp intake of air, and his eyes narrowed. Gaara was immediately alert, paying attention to their surroundings. Naruto seemed to have sensed something off, and he only ever looked that serious when he sensed an impending battle.

"Naruto?" she asked warily when she sensed nothing. All she heard was the twinkling of some of the wind chimes they had hung outside.

"We found spies in the hospital. They're Uzushio ninjas, the same ones who tracked our sons in Suna, and they know we noticed their presence." her eyes widened as she looked at him. She wasn't sure she could fight, not as tired and drained of chakra as she was, and not with her physical reflexes shot as they were. She watched him anxiously. "They're not going to find you. Come on." he stood up and pulled her to her feet. Gaara hissed as she felt a sharp pain on her lower back. "Gaara?"

"I'm fine. I got up too fast. Where are we going?" she asked quickly.

"I'm going to take you to the cave where I was born. I've put wards there to keep anyone from tracking you. I'm attracting them to the opposite direction."

A strong sense of deja vu hit her, and she looked at Naruto wide eyed at the memory the feeling summoned. She was well aware of the history of the Fourth Hokage's death, Naruto had told it to her once he had gathered the bits and pieces he heard from others.

"You're not using yourself as a bait?" Gaara breathed, anxiously. "It's you they are after, Naruto!"

"It's not. Their target changed when they found out you're pregnant. But don't worry, no one will get their hands on you. Come here." Naruto gently hugged her from behind, wrapping his hands around her bulging stomach. Another clone materialized and grabbed her sand gourd, which was resting against the tree.

Seconds later, they were inside the cave, which was lit up with emergency lights. Sakura and Tsunade were tersely standing there. "Naruto, are you sure...?" Sakura began as soon as they appeared.

"Sakura, I need you here more than I need you by my side. I'm fine, and I have Kakashi, Hinata, Sasuke and Karin with me." Tsunade crossed her arms and pursed her lips.

"Naruto, getting the two of us here with Gaara is completely pointless. Where are doctors Mieko and Himi? They're the ones who can help Gaara if she goes into labor." Naruto sighed shakily, running a hand over his hair.

"Dr. Himi is dead, and we think they're controlling Dr. Mieko's mind somehow. They were both talking about inducing Gaara's labor tonight, that was how we noticed something was wrong. When Ino managed to break their control over Dr. Himi's mind for a second, she killed herself and asked us to be careful of Uzushio as she lay dying." Naruto mumbled.

"Damn this." Tsunade cursed. "Couldn't they kill any other doctors?" she demanded angrily, looking at one of the walls.

"They're after Gaara, so they would attack her doctors. Really, we can't trust any doctors but the two of you tonight. We found two other gynecologists dead. The two of you likely weren't attacked because... Ah!" Naruto gasped, and a pained expression contorted his face as he held his head. Seconds later, he dissolved in smoke.

"Naruto!" Gaara cried out in panic. She hadn't even seen the moment he had replaced himself with a clone! Jutsus which hit him weren't supposed to affect his clones, either, unless he was dead or grievously hurt.

She felt a sharp pain in her stomach that brought tears to her eyes from moving too fast. She hissed when, seconds later, a strong cramp hit her, and fell to her knees, holding her stomach.

"Gaara!" Sakura rushed to her side, grabbing her just before her knees touched the sand that had gathered to soften her fall.

"No, no, no. Don't do this to me, kid! Don't you dare go into labor, we're not obstetricians." Tsunade walked up to them with a grimace.

Sakura placed her shining hand on her cramping stomach. "This is a contraction." she said breathlessly.

"Damn it!" Tsunade cursed, then looked around. "Naruto forgot to bring the alcohol."

"Tsunade shishou!" Sakura cried, scandalized.

"Help her to the bed, Sakura. Giving birth on the cold ground isn't going to help her survive." Tsunade ordered through ground teeth, moving around to assess their supplies.

"T-This is only the first contraction." Gaara stuttered, trying to reassure them though she felt terrified at the mere thought her time may have arrived. What terrified her more was the idea of what might have happened to Naruto.

"Then let's hope Naruto won't take more than half a day to get rid of those bastards and secure the hospital." She sounded absolutely sure Naruto was alright, and Gaara clung to that. She shakily walked towards the bed, supported by Sakura through her pain. "We don't have anything here but water and fucking towels. That idiotic little..." Tsunade growled.

Gaara closed her burning eyes, trying to swallow past her painfully tightening throat. "Shishou! Get a hold of yourself." Sakura hissed from her side.

Both of them helped her lie on her side, then Sakura stood by her, holding her hands over her stomach as she monitored her. Tsunade helped her out of her trousers, then covered her with one of the clean, warm blankets that someone – likely Naruto – had stored there for them.

"The babies are fine. This isn't a training contraction as far as I can tell." Sakura explained calmly once she finished her examination. "Gaara's blood pressure is above safe levels, and her chakra circulatory system is in distress."

"Sakura. I'm going to use my chakra to stabilize her. You'll waste as little chakra as you can. I don't know how long we will be here, but we need to be economical, just in case." Tsunade's voice was serious and composed this time.

"Yes, shishou!" Sakura nodded sharply.

"Gaara, get as much chakra as you possibly can inside your seal. Only stop when you feel like you're about to pass out." She nodded silently at Tsunade's words, and concentrated on doing just that.

Tsunade rested a hand on Gaara's wrist, and the other over her heart, and she sighed as her healing chakra eased the pain she had been feeling on her chest.

"Let's get you through this with two healthy little pests, kid." Despite her fear, she smiled at Tsunade's determined words.

"Please don't kill yourself, Naruto." she whispered. She fervently hoped that night wouldn't play out the same as the night twenty-seven years ago. The night Naruto was born, and both his parents died.


	11. Deja Vu

**Author's Note:** There is an alternate ending to this story, a sadder ending. It'll be posted as a separate story, you can find it in my profile by the name " **One Mistake Too Many** ". There are trigger warnings on it, by the end of the text to avoid spoilers.

After this chapter, there is only an epilogue left, then the sequel will be posted.

Thank you all for the continued support! I never thought people would like this fanfic at all – I really appreciate all the reviews and favorites.

The fight scene was omitted because it spoils the sequel.

* * *

 **Chapter 11: _Deja v_ _u_**

Naruto blinked his eyes open. They were so blurry, he could barely see anything but a bluish light in the dark room. He felt numb. Someone was healing him.

It took a few seconds of blinking, but he managed to recognize the hospital room. The bright light of chakra only really illuminated the area around his chest, but the light reflected easily off his healer's face.

Gaara.

Since when did Gaara know how to heal? She had never told him she had been learning. He wanted to ask, but he felt so tired. His tongue felt thick, he couldn't speak even if he had enough energy to do it. He only watched his wife's look of concentration, and the beautiful way the chakra reflected off her blue green eyes, highlighted by the dark birth marks around her eyes.

He watched her until he fell asleep.

Later, he thought that had been nothing but a dream.

* * *

When Naruto woke up, everything hurt. He was glad to be able to hear Kurama's voice inside his mind, faint as it was. Then again, had Kurama been gone, he probably wouldn't have woken up in the first place.

His voice was faint, and what he was saying made no sense, but he was distracted from that fact by the horrible pain he felt all over his body.

Most of his pains were soothed by relief when he heard Gaara's sweet voice. "Naruto, you're awake."

"You're alive." Naruto sighed, forcing his eyes open to take her in. Gaara was pale and exhausted. She also looked exasperated.

"You're the one who almost died. It was reckless of you to bait them, I told you." she admonished him.

"Well, they're dead now. Kurama was more than happy to show them that underestimating a tailed beast isn't good for your health... Ouch!" Naruto cried out as Gaara prodded one of the wounds on his chest.

"Dismissing this isn't good enough, Naruto. You nearly killed yourself. You only survived because of Kurama, because whatever seal they used on you, it stopped other people from being able to heal you until this morning. Kurama can barely heal you." Gaara told him sternly.

"What was I supposed to do? Let them kidnap you?" he ground out, feeling his chest burn. If Kurama was having trouble healing him quickly, then his wounds had really been bad. Kurama's voice was still too faint, too...

"You were supposed to listen to Shikamaru and Kakashi. A good ninja is, above all, a strategist. Rushing head first into battle will get a Kage nowhere but in trouble." she said so gravely that she sounded like a man in a way she hadn't in quite a while. Naruto hadn't even realized her voice had been getting softer and more feminine until he heard Gaara's old voice once again.

"Fine, I'm sorry. I won't do that again." he muttered. He became anxious when he saw Gaara wince and hold her stomach. "Is something wrong?"

"It's a contraction. I've been feeling them for three days now, but they've gotten worse." she explained, strained.

"Three days!? And you didn't tell me anything?" he grimaced as his body complained with pain at his poor treatment of it. She took almost a minute to reply – when she did, she looked annoyed.

"You were in a coma, how was I supposed to tell you?" Gaara remarked, her lips pursed in disapproval.

"C-Coma? Have I been out for three days?" he mumbled, and he was shocked when she silently nodded. He understood now why Gaara was unhappy with him. "I... Sorry for worrying you." he mumbled.

"You should be." she agreed unsympathetically. She closed her eyes. "At least you have awoken now."

He watched her silently. There was something she wasn't telling him. He froze when he noticed something that he should have noticed long before. "Y-You're yellowish... Aren't you?" he couldn't tell if it was just a trick of his eyes. She looked nowhere as bad as she had before.

"Yes. My liver and kidneys are failing. I've been in labor for fifteen hours, but it has barely progressed." Naruto's lips turned down into a frown. He reached out, but Gaara backed away from his fingers. "Don't you dare try to heal me. You're barely able to heal yourself." she warned, her eyes narrowed.

"Why haven't the doctors healed you?" Naruto asked in a whisper.

Gaara said nothing, but her defeated body language made alarms blare inside his mind.

Naruto reached out again, but this time she took his hand and held it instead of backing away. Gaara seemed startled over something as their fingers touched, and she looked at their joined hands in wonder. "Gaara, you're going to be fine." he told her shakily. The sad smile confirmed his fears.

She was dying and she knew it.

"You'll be fine." he repeated again.

"They can't give me medicine, because I'm unable to control my sand shield anymore, and my stomach is rejecting anything but water and rice. Since onset of labor, they can't even touch me anymore." she looked at their joined hands, a small smile on her lips. "I'm a little surprised that you actually can."

Naruto traced his fingers against her skin. It was soft – that meant she wasn't using her sand armor. But when he peered at the floor, he saw there was a pool of sand under her. He was startled when it began to move as if it was a restless, wild animal. Almost as soon as he noted the change, the door opened and Sakura walked in.

Sakura looked tired, herself, but her expression lit up when she saw him awake. "You're awake!" she sighed in relief, walking up to them and placing a hand over his forehead. He winced and shut his eyes as they began to shine with chakra. "That seal has deactivated on its own. You're going to be fine, now." she concluded, relieved.

Her eyes moved to their joined hands, and she looked startled. She walked around his bed in silence and slowly reached out to touch Gaara's stomach. Naruto's eyes widened when Gaara's sand jumped up and blocked her hand, though neither Gaara nor Sakura were surprised. They just exchanged strained looks.

"Naruto can touch you. Your sand's probably only allowing those you trust in contact with you." Sakura sighed, eying Naruto contemplatively. "Well. It was nearly impossible, but I managed to find this!" Sakura took the small machine that she had left on Naruto's bedside and offered it to Gaara. "It's a doppler, it's used to monitor fetal heart rate in civilian villages."

Gaara stared warily at it."My sand might break it, like it broke the..." she whispered.

"That doesn't matter. If it gets broken, that's it. Just give it a try." Sakura held it out somewhat insistently. Gaara hesitantly took it. "You hold the wand against your stomach and press it. Move it around until we can hear a heartbeat. Flick the button at the side to turn it on."

Naruto winced when Gaara turned the device on and a loud, annoying white noise left it. She touched the wand to her stomach in several places until she found one with a heartbeat. He could tell from Sakura's body language that the sound wasn't good at all. It sounded kind of slow, compared to what he was used to hearing when he listened to Gaara's stomach.

"This is my heartbeat." Gaara noted after they listened for a few seconds.

"You're sure?" Sakura wondered, and sighed when Gaara nodded. "Keep looking, then."

When Gaara found it, it was a much faster and weaker heartbeat. Naruto and Gaara exchanged worried looks, but this time, Sakura seemed relieved. She looked at her clock for a few minutes.

"That's it. His heart rate is good. Try to find his brother's." she encouraged them.

It took Gaara ten minutes and some squirming, but she found the twin's heartbeat. It was a little slower, but not alarmingly so according to Sakura.

Gaara turned the device off and gave it back to Sakura. "Thank you." her voice was heartfelt. They probably couldn't have accessed how their babies were doing ever since her shield began acting up.

"Keep this. Try to listen to their heartbeat every hour or so..." she trailed off when Gaara's sand placed the device on her hands.

"...Even if they are in trouble, we can do nothing about it. I think I would prefer to think they are fine, instead of knowing they're dying inside me and I can't save them." Gaara told her weakly.

"Of course we can do something! I'll heal them!" Naruto began strongly, but the air left his lungs in a rush when Gaara pressed his chest, and all his pain receivers screamed at him.

"You need your chakra for yourself. Don't..." Gaara trailed off when Sakura strode up to them, and her Strength of a Hundred seal flared to life.

"Sakura, what are you doing? Your baby!" Naruto started when she placed her hands onto his arm.

"She'll be fine. You're the only one who can keep Gaara alive right now, so I'll give you my strength." His eyes widened as dark lines of chakra traced up his arms from Sakura's hands, and he closed his eyes as he felt her heal him.

His hand was squeezed painfully and he looked up to see Gaara. Her mask had crumbled, and she had tears in her eyes. She looked like a wreck – he had never seen her that exhausted before. Not even during the war. He squeezed her hand back, and when Gaara looked up, he forced his lips to turn into an encouraging smile.

"Sakura, I think that's enough." Naruto whispered warily when he saw pain cross his friend's face.

"I'll help you recover as much as I can. You'll spend most of this energy on Gaara, so be quiet and take it." her voice was commanding.

"Tsunade baa-chan could..." he tried, but she cut him off.

"She will have to help you later, too. This is serious, Naruto." her gaze was intense as their eyes met. She really believed he would get spent trying to support Gaara.

It wasn't even like Kurama's chakra was drained. He didn't know why Kurama was unable to heal him, but it had nothing to do with chakra drain. He tried to reach out to Kurama, and it felt like something had metaphorically snapped in him.

He cried out when a sudden, sharp and burning pain flared on his navel, as if he had been impaled by a flaming sword. All of a sudden, Kurama's chakra overcame his system so quickly that he felt like it was burning him alive, in a way he hadn't felt in a long, long time. The ominous red cloak of chakra that came from an unwilling bond with Kurama started coming off his skin, and Sakura let go of his arm as if it had burned her too. Gaara's grip just became tighter around his hand.

"Naruto!" Sakura gasped. He squeezed his eyes shut, but the burning feeling was lessening, and suddenly his skin was shining gold.

'Your friend broke the seal they placed on you.' Kurama's voice echoed inside his head, no longer faint and nonsensical.

"W-What seal?" he stuttered aloud.

'The one interfering with our connection. I was trying to break it, but you were too weak before, and you weren't doing what I was telling you to do.' Naruto's eyes snapped open.

"That's why you couldn't heal me." he realized. Sakura was watching him grimly. He grinned at her. "Thanks, Sakura! You really helped, but I'll be fine now. Kurama's at full strength, he can keep us alive." Sakura sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'll ask Tsunade to support you if you need." Naruto hummed his agreement, but he turned most of his attention to Gaara as he directed his chakra inside her body.

She wasn't doing well. At all. As he started healing all the damage in her body, she pressed her lips thin and held her stomach.

He was so focused on her, that he didn't realize Sakura had left until she returned with Tsunade. "Naruto."

"Baa-chan." he stuttered, a little intimidated by the no-nonsense expression on her face. It made him feel like back when he was still a teenager, and she was his Hokage.

She placed her hand on his forehead and examined him. After several seconds, she stepped back. "You're good enough. Go home, and take Gaara with you."

"Eh? But she's in labor!" he stuttered.

"Naruto. Look at this." he followed her pointing finger towards Gaara's sand, which looked ready to jump and shield her from anything. "She's been on guard for three days now. She hasn't been able to sleep more than two minutes at a time since the night you got yourself on this bed. Make her feel safe, and make her relax, or we're going to lose her."

Naruto blanched. "...Why haven't you sent her home yet, then?"

"Because there was no one who could instantly bring her back if there were complications, and we needed technology to resuscitate her. But you're awake now. If something happens, bring her into this room. I'll keep a team at full attention, so they can treat her as soon as she needs it. Sakura will go with you." she turned towards Sakura, who answered with a single, firm nod. "Gaara, you're sure you know what to do?"

"I've studied several books, Tsunade." she replied weakly.

"Good. If you feel any doubt, ask Sakura or call me. Here." Naruto frowned as she unsealed a huge glass full of sand and gave it to Gaara. "Make sure this is the only sand you keep with you."

Gaara agreed and made to take it. Sakura quickly took it, instead. It looked heavy. "Let's go, then. Should we walk, or are you up to using your jutsu, Naruto?"

As response, he disconnected himself from everything but the IV drip and stood up, offering his arms to Gaara and Sakura. Tsunade went up to him and disconnected the IV line too. "You don't need this anymore."

Once the two of them were gripping his arms, he took them into their garden.

He felt dizzy and sick as soon as they arrived. Sakura quickly soothed his malaise, before he had even said anything. "You need to eat and rest, too, Naruto. I'll make a soup for the two of you."

Gaara's complexion became greenish at the mere idea, but she only nodded.

He was a bit unsteady on his feet, but still he wrapped his arm around Gaara's waist and helped her to their room. "Come on." he murmured. Sakura silently followed them, still holding the jar of sand.

"I don't think I can sleep." she whispered back.

"That's fine. Just make me company." he soothed. Sakura opened the jar when they arrived in their room, and the sand sluggishly came out and rested around Gaara's feet. It looked infinitely more relaxed than it had before, even with Sakura's presence. "What did Baa-chan do with that sand?" he asked curiously once Sakura had left.

"She cleaned it. So I won't get an infection if it goes inside me, like it did last time." she mumbled. Naruto frowned.

"Get it off the floor, then. Bring it over the sheets." Gaara swallowed.

"I can't. I'm too drained to control it. It's too risky." Naruto grimaced. At least the tatami was clean... Hopefully.

"Come on and rest with me a little, then. I'm feeling ready to crash." his chakra reserves had probably taken a hit if using this jutsu made him so tired. At least he was sure he could use it once or twice more if he needed to get Gaara to the hospital.

He lied down on their futon, and Gaara hesitated before joining him. As soon as she was in his arms, she tensed and he felt her stomach go taut under his hands. "What's it?" he asked, worried. "Contraction?" he asked once again when she didn't answer. This time, he got a nod in response as she gripped his hands.

He ran his hands over her stomach, hoping it soothed the pain. Gaara didn't say anything, but she didn't relax either until a minute passed. Then, she turned around and buried her face on his chest.

"I'm glad you're awake." she murmured. He ran his hand over her hair.

"Me too. I didn't want to miss this." he leaned in and kissed the crown of her head.

She didn't say anything. By the way her breath kept hitching, he could tell she was trying to say something, but couldn't. It worried him. He held her and rubbed her back, and eventually, she gave up saying whatever she wanted to say, and just laid silently inside his arms.

Before he decided he wanted to ask her what was it, Sakura returned with soup.

"Here it is." Gaara jumped in his arms, and her shield came up between her and Sakura. It startled both of them, then Sakura looked contrite. "I'm sorry, I hadn't realized you were asleep."

"She wasn't..." he trailed off, because when Gaara turned around, she looked half asleep. She had been so tense that he hadn't even realized she had been sleeping.

"It's fine." she struggled to sit up. He placed an arm around her shoulders and helped her.

"I'll be in the sitting room, give me a shout if you need me." Sakura told them, then stood and left.

She had only brought one bowl of soup, though it was a big one. Naruto took it and held up a spoonful in front of Gaara's lips. "Here." Gaara grimaced, but she ate it without complaining. He ate three spoonfuls himself as she chewed, painfully slowly. "...You've chewed it enough. Swallow that and open up." he told her, pretty sure she was doing that so he would eat the soup on his own and she wouldn't be forced to.

But Gaara ignored his words, only giving him a glare as a sign she had heard him. He held another full spoon in front of her lips for what felt like too long, before she swallowed and took the offered food.

He sighed. The soup was badly seasoned, Sakura sucked at cooking. He wasn't in the mood for getting kicked around by his friend for pointing that out to her, so he dutifully ate, and forced Gaara to eat with him.

At one point, Gaara turned her face away, refusing the spoon. "Come on. Eat a little more, you've eaten barely anything." She hadn't swallowed yet, so he waited until she did to give him a response.

"I'm going to be sick if I eat any more." she murmured, and she did look sickly. He didn't insist, he just ate the last of the soup on his own. Maybe he could cook something edible later.

"Do you want some fruit?" she paled at his words.

Or maybe it was because of another contraction, she was holding her stomach again. He was noticing Gaara wouldn't speak when they hit, so he gave up getting a response. "I'll take the bowl to the kitchen and I'll be right back."

So he did. When he returned, Gaara was still sitting up, looking extremely uncomfortable. "Don't you want to lie down?"

"No." she refused.

"Come sit with me, then." he sat with his back against the wall. Gaara crawled up to him and sat between his legs, reclining against his chest and closing her eyes.

This time he could watch her, and he knew exactly the moment she fell asleep. She was still tense, and it didn't look restful at all, but he realized she didn't wake up even when another contraction hit. So he watched her and let her sleep.

Sakura returned nearly two hours later, tiptoeing by the door. "Is she asleep?" she mouthed soundlessly.

"Yeah." he mouthed back, and Sakura nodded.

"Call me when she wakes up." she mouthed again, then left.

* * *

It had been exactly a day since he had woken up. He had woken at two in the morning, and it was half past one right now. The twins hadn't been born yet. Naruto was frankly tired of seeing Gaara in so much pain.

Sakura was guiding her to use the small machine to check their heartbeats again. "It sounds good." she said quietly, but the heart rate of one of the twins had dropped quite a bit.

"Why is this taking so long? Is something wrong?" Naruto wondered.

"Labor does take long. Nothing is wrong." Sakura soothed with a small smile. Gaara believed her, but Naruto had known Sakura for too long, and he knew when his friend was bullshitting him.

He didn't call her on it in front of Gaara. But when she left, he sent a clone after her as soon as he could do it without Gaara seeing him. "Something is wrong. What's it?" he demanded in a whisper, when they were far enough from the room.

Sakura made a face and grabbed his hand, dragging him further away from the room, until they were almost outside the front door. That really worried him, specially the pause she made as she choose her words.

"I can't tell without examining her. Maybe nothing is wrong." she trailed off and remained silent for a few moments. "It's just that, if she were in the hospital, they would be using techniques to rush her labor. I've never heard of a labor which lasted more than twenty hours, at least not in the years I've been working as a medic, but I've read natural labor can, when it's not medically assisted. I just have zero experience with it." she finished, frustrated. "Tsunade's the only one who thinks things are going on schedule, I'm not sure if she's just being optimistic."

He frowned. "It's been over twenty hours since I woke. How long has she been in labor?"

"She started feeling contractions over four days ago, but her sand only began to act up forty hours ago. It's hard to really tell how much time really has passed, because we can't tell how dilated she is. We've been trying to judge by her level of pain, and by her sand. That makes forty hours more accurate." Naruto blanched.

"Are the babies at risk because it's taking too long?" he asked warily. He had guessed it right, by the expression on her face, but she didn't say anything. He heaved a shaky breath. "As long as she's doing well..." he whispered, though the mere thought the babies might die made him hurt.

"Don't tell her this, Naruto. She needs to stay relaxed. She's come a long way from yesterday. I didn't agree with Tsunade's idea, everyone was against taking Gaara from the hospital, really, but I can tell now it was the right call. Gaara's..." both of them froze when they heard Gaara cry out in pain, and they rushed back into the room.

She was kneeling on the floor, with her face buried on his neck as he rubbed her back and whispered encouraging words against her ear. She was shaking inside his arms, but before any of them could ask what was wrong, she reached down under her nightgown and pulled something up between them.

An infant's wail filled the room, and Naruto had never felt this much relief at seeing anyone cry in his life. Gaara sagged against the original's arms, holding the wailing infant with shaking arms, looking more relieved than he felt.

She actually started to laugh. Her laugher was so bright and free, it triggered a reflex smile on his lips, and his original chuckled with her.

Sakura was the only one looking worried. "Gaara, don't cover him with your sand." Sakura warned, alarmed, causing Naruto to search frantically and see his legs were being swallowed by the sand.

"...I can't stop it." she breathed out. Her hands shakily formed a hand sign, and all the sand around them flew meters away from them, showering him and Sakura with sand.

Sakura forced her expression to relax. "Don't do that. It's fine, the sand's been sanitized." she frowned as she walked up to them. "He might be the one attracting the sand, himself." she said slowly, as if just thinking about the idea. "Did you do that as a newborn?"

"No." Gaara said quietly, looking at their son. "My kekkei genkai isn't supposed to be passed down in my family line."

"It might have." she pointed out.

Naruto was by her side, and he could see the baby more clearly now. The boy was tiny, just as Gaara had predicted. A tiny redhead, with dark rings around his eyes, and several shades paler than even Gaara. He had stopped crying, and as his mother gently rubbed his back, he sagged against her chest as if it was the most comfortable place to be.

The sand she had sent away was returning, and slowly but surely covering all of his body in a thick layer of sand. Sakura made a gesture for her to wait when Gaara made to push the sand away again, and they watched. The sand encased him, and for a heart stopping moment, it covered his face completely. Soon it left on its own, to reveal the baby's startled face as he choked.

"He's doing it." Sakura repeated again, slowly. She reached out to touch him, but a shield of sand quickly stopped her hand's movement. She stepped back. "Naruto, take him gently and bring him away from Gaara for a bit. Be mindful of the umbilical cord."

Gaara held the baby out as he approached, and he gently took him. It was strange, he felt his hands sink into the sand as it moved to accommodate and cover his hands. He took the baby as far from Gaara as he could, and Sakura tried to touch him again. She grimaced when the sand stopped her hand once again – not a shield, just the thick layer covering the baby. "It's useless." she muttered. "Help me examine him."

The original Naruto held Gaara close and kissed her forehead as Gaara sagged against him. Both of them watched as he laid the baby on a towel by their side, and tried to follow Sakura's instructions, though it was hard. In the end, his friend looked frustrated, but she once again was making an effort to hide it from Gaara.

When she smiled, Naruto knew she was going to lie again. "He's doing great. Just hold him to your chest and let him feed." she suggested.

Gaara looked relieved, and she did as Sakura had asked. Naruto, on the other hand, was extremely worried that Sakura had looked like she was lying when she said that. He wanted to drag her away and ask what was wrong, but he couldn't, not without alarming Gaara.

She bared her breast, then gently pushed the baby's mouth against her nipple. He resisted her at first, but when she squeezed her nipple and squirted milk against his lips, he latched onto her nipple and sucked with gusto. More sand receded from his face, then, and when he moved his arm away from the cocoon in order to plant his little fist against her breast, the sand didn't resist his movement a bit.

"He's definitely doing that with the sand." Naruto pointed out aloud.

"...Feels like that." Gaara agreed faintly. "It's strange." it didn't look like Gaara's armor. It looked like he was trapped inside an amorphic rock made of sand, but Naruto could easily bury his fingers through the sand and touch his head. So could Gaara, and clearly the baby as his hand was poking out to touch her.

"I'll fill the baby bathtub with water to see if we can have him without the sand for a bit." Sakura told them, then stood and left the room.

Naruto watched as his clone strode after her, and he was a little confused as to why he seemed to be in such a rush to follow her. Gaara didn't notice, her attention was fully on their baby as she held him and smiled at him.

As they watched him, sand started covering his face again, until it was covering his forehead and eyes. Gaara frowned. "Smart kid. He already knows how to make a blindfold." Naruto whispered, trying to make her relax.

Gaara placed her hand over his covered eyes, then slowly moved it away, forcing the sand to come out with her hand. The baby looked disgruntled, though when his attempts to cover his eyes again were thwarted, he tried to open them.

His eyes were so blue. He didn't have pupils, just like Gaara, and the darker skin around the eyes just made the blue in his eyes look even brighter. He paused on his feeding as he stared up at them for a second, then he slowly resumed. When Gaara let go of the sand, it didn't cover his eyes again, though he closed them again after a while.

Gaara tensed inside his arms. "Yuraku's coming." she murmured.

He didn't ask her how she knew who was who, he only accepted the baby into his arms and helped her kneel again. This time Gaara didn't cry out, though she did seem to be in pain as she gritted her teeth and bore down. The baby came much faster than before, and he flailed in her arms as she brought him up.

He wasn't crying. He looked disgruntled, but he seemed less upset once Gaara gently cleaned his face. Unlike his brother, he stared at them as soon as his eyes were clean. "Hi." Gaara said softly when his eyes turned towards her, smiling at him. His eyes were so blue, but he had pupils, and his eyelids weren't discolored. He was another redhead, but his hair was lighter.

"The sand isn't covering him." Naruto pointed out as Gaara moved until she was sitting against him again. Yuraku took to her breast faster, and he was moving far more than Yukio. She was definitely right when she guessed who was who – maybe it had to do with their position inside. Yuraku had always moved towards the front of her stomach, and Naruto could never really tell Yukio was moving when Gaara told him he was.

"No. He doesn't have the dark marks around his eyes. Father always got them when he manipulated his gold." she said quietly, as they watched the babies together.

"...Maybe you got that from your father, instead of Shukaku, right?" Naruto guessed.

"Maybe." she agreed quietly, but she didn't seem convinced of his suggestion.

Naruto was hit with the memories of his clone then, and he realized why he had left in such a rush. Sakura was lying about Yukio being alright. She couldn't tell one way or the other, because she couldn't examine him well.

He couldn't be angry with her for lying. But when his friend returned with a tub full of water, he sent her a glare, daring her to lie to him about Yuraku.

She looked guilty for a moment, but then she looked surprised. "He's born. I didn't hear him cry."

"He didn't cry." Gaara explained quietly. "Do you want to examine him?" Sakura hesitated.

"Feed him first. It can wait." Naruto glared at her again.

Two hours later, they were already fed, cleaned, clothed (Yuraku was) and their cords had been cut and placed inside their boxes for safekeeping. Sakura managed to examine him once he was inside the water, but Yukio had screamed bloody murder when he was placed in the tub. The kid definitely had Naruto's flair for the dramatic. Yuraku was more like his mom, easy going and silent, though he definitely moved a lot.

She could examine Yuraku easily. The sand wasn't clinging to him at all. This time she was truthful to Gaara and told them both she wasn't completely sure there was nothing wrong with Yukio, but nothing appeared to be wrong as far as she was able to examine him. But Yuraku was doing really well.

Neither of them needed to return to the hospital. They were smaller than normal, but they were only a week early, they were both doing great outside the womb, able to breath and nurse on their own.

She had left to report to Tsunade, but she would return and stay on their guest bedroom for a week. To be absolutely sure the babies were fine. She would bring a pediatrician with her when she returned – she had gone running, so Naruto could conserve his energies.

Gaara and Naruto were lying on their futon, both exhausted from their ordeal. He was spooning her, and they were watching the babies, who were lying on a second futon she had placed by their side – Yukio was still covered in sand, up to his eyes once again. Both of them seemed asleep.

"We should sleep." he told her quietly, when she made no sign of closing her eyes.

"Yeah." she agreed quietly. She was still staring at the babies. Naruto couldn't take his eyes off them for long, either. Every time he did look away, he had the urge to look back and make sure they were safe.

"Do you want to take turns watching over them?" he offered after they stayed in silence for several minutes.

"Sounds great." she agreed, sighing.

"Sleep first, then. I'll take the first watch." he kissed her forehead.

"Alright." she agreed. She was asleep not long after, and this time she thankfully relaxed in her sleep.

She didn't even wake when the pediatrician arrived, and declared their sons healthy. He didn't wake her up, until she woke on her own next morning.

* * *

Gaara felt like she was suffering from the worst hangover she had ever experienced when she opened her eyes.

She was alarmed at the strength of the sun coming from the window – it was definitely late morning. She quickly looked around, and she was relieved when he saw Naruto and a clone sitting by the wall, each holding one of the babies and rocking them. It seemed he was ready to start feeding them formula.

She sat up and reached out, wordlessly telling him to bring them to her. "Good morning." Naruto greeted with a grin, but he did bring the children to her, and helped her hold each to a breast.

She frowned when she saw there was sand on Yukio's face. "Hold Yuraku up for a bit."

She let Naruto hold him and moved her hand to remove all the sand from the baby's face. Yukio let out a small wail, but he was distracted by her nipple just a few seconds later. When his eyes opened, like before he didn't cover them again.

"I need to do something about this sand." she sighed. "Once they're fed. My chakra reserves are half-way by now."

"The doc said you can't use your chakra yet. You should keep yourself drained." Naruto murmured against her ear.

"What can I do? If he keeps doing this..." she once again held both her babies, with Naruto by each of her sides, watching them. "Is he still naked?"

But she could easily touch her son through the sand, and she could feel he was wearing nothing. The sand wasn't acting like an armor, but more like an annoyance. Naruto himself could push his fingers through the sand. Only Sakura had been unable to, at least until she put him underwater.

"I wouldn't call that naked." Naruto pointed out with a chuckle.

"That's not a laughing matter." she told him, but a smile did turn her lips. "We need to put a diaper on him, at least." Naruto wrinkled his nose.

"When you put it like that..." he muttered. She shook her head.

"Why didn't you wake me up? You didn't sleep at all..." he had heavy bags under his eyes. Naruto just grinned.

"You needed the sleep more than I did. I'll take a nap later." he leaned in and kissed her temple. She sighed, exasperated. Naruto had been in a coma for three days, he couldn't skip a night's sleep right now. She had to make sure he slept in the afternoon, at least.

"Prepare a bath for Yukio. I'll try to put some clothes on him before I drain my chakra again." she told him quietly. Naruto hesitated, but he nodded and his clone went to do as she had asked, leaving only Naruto himself to help support the babies up.

Even after giving birth, she still wasn't out of danger zone. It would take a while for her body to recover – her doctors hadn't agreed on a time period, and she would probably take even less than they guessed, since she healed faster than normal. They had told her to continue limiting her chakra usage for two months, to be on the safe side. She should follow their advice, specially now that one of her regular doctors was dead, and the other was in an induced coma so she could recover from jutsu backlash injuries.

But she wasn't about to neglect her son just to be on the safe side.

Once they were both fed, she gave Yuraku to Naruto. He lied with the child over his chest and began talking and playing with him, though the baby really was doing nothing other than stare at his face as if he was the strangest man to ever live.

She took her sand-covered son and placed him near the tub, and once she made sure the water wasn't too hot, she forced the sand away from Yukio's body.

The baby cried desperately, as if she was torturing him. She quickly placed him inside the water, and rubbed his chest in a comforting way. "Sh, sh, it's okay, baby. Mom is here to protect you." she spoke in a soothing voice.

"I don't think he likes water. He'll like Suna better than Konoha." Naruto remarked. She shushed him.

"Stop with the stupid comments and get me baby soap." she murmured, carefully running her fingers over his skin to dislodge any remaining grains of sand. She was displeased, but not surprised, to see his skin looked irritated.

She took the soap from Naruto and gently washed every inch of his skin. He relaxed under the water after a few minutes, and looked like he was ready to fall asleep right there. Maybe he preferred the feeling of water or sand rather than air against his skin – she could commiserate with him.

"She's such a good mom, isn't she? You look like you're enjoying this so much." Naruto was cooing at him non-stop, which probably contributed to his relaxed state. "I'm jealous of you, I wish she would bathe me like that."

Gaara's eyes widened. "...That comment was unnecessary." Naruto only smirked at her.

"Your eyes are so pretty, just like hers." Naruto continued as she reached up to wash his eyes with clean water from a smaller bucket. The sand had been irritating them the most. "He's going to look just like you. We'll get the chance to see what you would look like if you really were a guy."

"Naruto, you need sleep. You're getting addled from the lack of it." she muttered, cupping water inside her hand to wash Yukio's head. All words leaving Naruto's lips so far were non-sense. At least their son seemed to be enjoying his voice.

"But I've really been curious." Gaara shot him a blank look, and he quickly covered his mouth with his fingers, silently telling her he would shut up.

She removed Yukio from the water and carefully dried him with one of the clean towels Naruto had bought.

"Here, let me." Naruto offered when she took a second too long trying to figure the diaper out. He had the baby dressed in the diaper in record time. When he reached for the one-piece, she stopped his hand.

"Let me try something else." She took a cotton blanket and wrapped Yukio snuggly with it.

"Isn't that too tight? He can barely move." Naruto mumbled.

"That's how tight he's wrapping himself with the sand. I would expect he's doing that for a reason." she told him, gently placing the cotton cap on him. Yukio looked very nearly asleep already, completely comfortable now that he was clean and warm – but not too warm. That was why she left him naked, two layers of clothing was probably not a good idea in the summer heat.

She was satisfied when sand didn't rush to cover him as soon as she stopped forcing it away.

"What reason? Is he into bondage?" Naruto muttered, following her as she went to the children's futon and laid her son down gently. He fell asleep seconds later, and at a glance, she could tell Yuraku was also asleep on Naruto's chest. She took Yuraku and gently placed him next to his brother. The baby spread his legs and arms, curled up, then spread his limbs again and stayed like that, looking like a giant starfish.

"Maybe he feels exposed because he isn't in a tight place anymore. It must have been pretty tight inside my womb, with both of them pressed against each other." Naruto frowned.

"Yuraku looks fine." the baby looked like he didn't have a care in the world, with his legs and arms spread. He reminded her of Naruto – that was exactly how Naruto napped when she wasn't in bed with him.

"Maybe that's a personality trait. Yuraku probably takes after you, and Yukio takes after me." she blinked when Naruto knelt behind her and wrapped his arms tightly around her, pinning her arms to her body.

"Hm? You like tight places then?" a small smile curved her lips and she rested against his chest. He felt so warm, like always.

"I like your embrace." she murmured in response. Naruto chuckled against her ear and kissed her temple.

"Thank you for the perfect sons." he whispered against her ear. She smiled again, watching them and enjoying his hug.


	12. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

On their second day of life, she had taken her children outside to bathe in the weak early morning sun. Naruto decided they should have a small breakfast picnic on the inner garden rather than taking the babies away from their sun bathing, and though the space was somewhat limited, neither she nor Sakura complained.

"So! I have news for you." Naruto told her with a grin, some time in the middle of their meal. "Tenten just told me she got a call from bushy brows. He got your letter, and he's returning to visit you rather than writing a reply!"

Sakura choked on her miso soup and showered the grass with it as she sneezed it out. Gaara and Naruto both turned to her, startled. "It went down the wrong way." she coughed.

"Anyways..." Naruto continued slowly. "He might arrive in time for your birthday! We need to throw you a party!" he finished with an excited grin. "Too bad the twins couldn't wait just five more days, you would be all born on the same day!"

"...Yes, it would have been wonderful to be in labor on my birthday." she remarked sarcastically, watching Sakura from the corner of her eyes. She was trying too hard not to look flustered. But Naruto didn't seem suspicious, so she brushed it away.

"I guess not." Naruto laughed. "So, do you want a party, or would you rather rest?" he asked this time.

She pondered on his proposal. "You can throw a party after they're ten days old." she said quietly. She didn't intend to take them anywhere, but at least she would be more used to motherhood by then. He grinned.

"Great!" Naruto was delighted with her approval. "Is Kankurou going to the chuunin exams?"

"Probably." she nodded once.

"We should do it before he leaves, then. The first test will be held on the 28th this year." Naruto paused to take a bite of his food, then. "When is he coming to visit the twins, by the way?"

Gaara smiled faintly. "When he gets the courage to face off against his worst fears." Naruto looked uncomprehendingly at her. She didn't elaborate.

* * *

"Happy birthday, Gaara! It's truly wonderful that I find you in good health! I was worried about you." he studied her closely.

Gaara was probably quite a sight, still dressed in a maternity dress. She had lost a lot of weight, enough that her old clothes fit snuggly by now, but the dresses were far more practical when it came to nursing Yukio and Yuraku. She had felt strange in them at first, but Naruto's reactions to them – or lack of any reaction – really helped curb her insecurities.

"Rock Lee." she greeted with a small smile. "I'm happy to see you look well. I was worried about you, too."

Lee flushed and scratched his head. "So, you know about that? Love has its ups and downs, but it's still a noble feeling we should all strive to nurture in our lives!" he beamed at her, changing the subject in a way that was so... Lee. "I've heard you've found love with my youthful Hokage! That's truly splendid news!" he finished cheerfully.

"Indeed." she agreed peaceably, but his words weren't necessarily true.

She had loved Naruto for a long time, but she doubted Naruto felt the same. She was his good friend, and the mother of his children, and that was the extent of their relationship for now, on his side. She wasn't sure if the way he treated her would change once there was no longer any risk to her life, but part of her was afraid it would. She didn't want it to change – she really enjoyed his affections, now that she had gotten used to it.

She was distracted off her thoughts by Naruto himself. "Hey, Bushy brows. Meet your future pupil, Yuraku." he walked up to them with an amused expression to his face, holding Yuraku towards Lee. The five-day-old baby was awake and alert, and seemed extremely fascinated with the wall of green that was Rock Lee.

"Oh, ho! What a cute little fellow! He looks just like you, Naruto!" Lee beamed, tickling the baby's cheek. Gaara quickly caught his hand and pulled it back before the baby caught Lee's finger into his mouth.

"Careful, he'll eat you!" Naruto chuckled.

"Your bandages are too dirty for him to put into his mouth." she told him in an apologetic tone. "You're the first one not to say he looks like me."

"Hm... The shape of his eyes, it's all Naruto's. His nose, too. Only his coloring kind of reminds me of you." Lee explained. "What do you mean, he'll be my pupil?"

"He has the makings of a taijutsu master. He kicked his mother so much I could see it just looking at her stomach." Naruto told him with a grin. "He can even walk already, look."

Naruto held the baby over the table, and Yuraku started stepping, as if he was walking. Naruto had been beyond fascinated with the baby the first time he saw, but Sakura had told them that was only a newborn reflex, and it would go away in a month. Yukio could do it too, but his steps didn't look as sure.

But Lee didn't know it, and he looked ecstatic like Naruto had. "Look at that! As expected of a son of two Kages! I would be more than honored to teach such a genius!" Lee proclaimed.

"Then get ready, because I'm going to make you his sensei." Naruto teased.

"Here is Yukio." she took the baby from Naruto's clone and showed to her friend.

"Aw... Now, he does look exactly like you. So adorable." Lee only caressed the baby's clothed stomach, this time. "Is he cold?"

Yuraku was only in his diapers, but they had clothed Yukio with long sleeves, to keep him from covering himself with sand.

"He inherited Gaara's kekkei genkai, and keeps covering himself if we don't." Naruto explained. "Now that you've met them, I'll take them to get a nap. Have fun catching up." he carefully picked Yukio off her arms and carried each baby off on one arm.

"It's brilliant that everything turned out ok. You, of all people, deserve to be happy, Gaara." Lee said sincerely, smiling at her, once Naruto had left.

"So do you. I hope you find your happiness." she said quietly.

"Oh, I will. My significant half just asked for a little time out, maybe she is ready to talk to me now. Let's be hopeful!" he crossed his fingers.

Gaara was somewhat suspicious. "Can you tell me who this woman is?" she asked quietly.

"Oh, no! I'm a gentleman! I'm not going to defile her honor by bragging about her, even if you are a close friend, Gaara!" Gaara watched him speculatively.

"So, you did sleep with her." Lee blushed, but the expression on his face was all the answer she needed. "...I have a feeling you're in for quite a surprise when you talk to her." she told him slowly. Lee's eyes widened.

"You know who my dear significant half is?" he asked, shocked.

"I have my guesses." she waved her hand.

"But she wanted it to be a secret! Please don't tell anyone!" Gaara was a little bothered by that. But she didn't know anything about their relationship, and she couldn't know Sakura's motives. She definitely couldn't judge her yet. But if it did turn out Sakura was ashamed of Rock Lee, she would have a very long talk with the kunoichi.

"I won't. But I doubt you'll be able to keep your secret for long." Specially if their baby girl was born with his eyebrows. They were quite distinctive.

"Why is that?" Lee asked with a frown.

"Not my secret to tell." she avoided answering. "Tell me, how did your training trip go? You never told me you were going on it."

She successfully distracted him as he started to talk about taijutsu with her.

* * *

 ** _One Year Later_**

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOMMY!" Gaara's body seized from the fright of being awoken by the chorus of screams.

She sat up to see Yukio giggling, while Yuraku shouted "Mommy!" on repeat, the only word he had helped the two Narutos holding them shout just seconds ago.

Still half-asleep, her mind provided her a few choice words to respond to her husband with, but she didn't want Yuraku cursing random strangers on the streets, and the toddler would repeat everything he was able to pronounce.

Kankurou had learned that the hard way a week ago, when, after a couple of hours babysitting the twins, Yuraku started shouting at the top of his lungs "Condom!" every time he crossed paths with his uncle. He still hadn't stopped it because Naruto would burst out in laugher every time he did, and Yuraku loved to please his father.

Naruto had deaged twenty years when their sons became old enough to react to his childish behavior. She hadn't minded it, until he had first decided using Yuraku as an alarm clock was a good idea, three months ago.

"I'm going to end up killing you on accident." she mouthed out, annoyed – her children still couldn't read anyone's lips. Naruto's reply was a grin, before he put Yuraku on her lap so he could give her his sloppy 'good morning kiss'.

"You're too full of yourself, Kazekage. As if you could kill me so easily." Naruto mouthed back, then dodged the pillow she threw on his face by dispersing. The other Naruto sat on the bed by her side, still holding their quieter son. "Didn't take you for someone who would pillow fight." he teased aloud.

"Do you have any purpose for waking me up at..." she narrowed her eyes as she looked at the clock. "Four and a half in the morning?"

"Yuraku had a nightmare, and he was upset. I thought this would cheer him up, and it did." some of her anger dissipated as she looked down at her babbling son.

He had just reached a year of age, but he talked for hours and hours. Most of it was unrecognizable gibberish, but Naruto pretended to understand it, so Yuraku went on and on. She also liked to encourage him sometimes, but it drove her brother absolutely insane when Yuraku wanted to "hold a conversation" with Uncle Kan. That was very likely the reason behind the condom incident.

"Did you have an upsetting dream, Yura-chan?" she asked softly. Yuraku stopped his babbling and frowned.

"Mama." he mumbled, then reached out and gripped her clothes. She knew what he wanted, so she opened her nightgown and bared her breast. Yuraku quickly cuddled up to her and buried his face against her breast, wanting comfort more than milk. When he was hungry, he tended just to ask Naruto for fruits, instead of seeking her – unlike his brother. He ate twice as much as Yukio, and her milk didn't seem to satiate him anymore.

"Couldn't you have comforted him in another way?" she wondered. Naruto's smirk was all the answer she needed. Of course he could have. She glared at him, but when he leaned in and kissed her lips, she kissed him back.

"Happy birthday, mommy." Naruto repeated again.

Yukio had crawled away from his arms and was cuddling against her by his brother's side, silently requesting milk, too, as well as comfort.

"I hope this doesn't become an habit, Naruto Uzumaki." but deep inside, she knew it would.

* * *

Which was exactly why, eight months later, she decided to take it upon her own hands to perpetuate it.

Now, Gaara didn't usually raise her voice. She wasn't a good screamer, even if she could get her voice to carry far if she wanted to. But she didn't like raising her voice. Besides, her deep voice was just too soothing a way to wake Naruto up. It wasn't good enough.

That's why she requested a very dear friend's help on the next October tenth.

Always eager to be helpful, her friend had come into her home at three in the morning, carrying his daughter in his lap.

She stood by the door to their bedroom in Konoha, with her arms crossed, and watched as Rock Lee sneaked up on his Hokage with three toddlers hanging on to his hands, and then cried out very obnoxiously. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!"

This time Yuraku chorused with him on both the words 'happy' and 'daddy', though he just said gibberish in place of birthday. Lee's daughter Satori just shrieked like a banshee in the background – the sound was very similar to the shriek that came from Naruto's throat as he jumped awake.

Her more composed, silent son covered his eyes and ran towards her, giggling – she couldn't tell if he was having fun of if he was feeling embarrassment on his father's behalf.

"Lee, what the heck are you doing in my house?!" Naruto's voice was still high pitched as he demanded.

"I came to wish you long years of greatness, my most youthful Hokage!" Lee's voice boomed, then he began to sing the birthday song at the top of his lungs, with both Yuraku and Satori pipping in with shrieks and laugher, and sometimes words. Soon enough, Yukio ran towards Naruto and jumped him, prompting the other toddlers to follow suit.

It took quite a long time for Naruto's eyes to wander towards the place were she stood, casually leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. His eyes narrowed, then they widened in realization and shock. She only smirked in response.

His eyes narrowed again. "You're on." he mouthed, then ignored her to give attention to the toddlers attacking him and attempting to topple him over.

* * *

 ** _Years Later_**

The first time the twins went on Summer Vacations in school, Naruto wanted them both to go on vacations too. She was recovering from a bad bout of flu she had caught off her children, so she didn't oppose his idea too much.

So Kakashi took over for Naruto, Kankurou took over for Gaara, and they took off to an island in the middle of nowhere – courtesy of Mei Terumi.

She was currently lying on the sand of a private beach, enjoying the early morning sun and listening to the sweet sound of laughing children as Naruto chased them over the shallow water.

She was so unconcerned about life that she almost missed Naruto approaching her, and he wasn't even trying to be sneaky.

"People usually extend a towel before lying down, you know?" she responded to him with a hum. Naruto flopped down by her side, completely ignoring his idea of a towel, himself. "Hm, the sun feels nice." he sighed, pleased. "This breeze smells so nice. We should have come to the beach before."

Gaara said nothing. Naruto was undeterred by her lack of response. "Do you...?" he began, but she interrupted him.

"I'm trying to relax and empty my mind for once. You're not helping." she told him with a sigh.

"Can't you empty your mind later? You do remember today's our anniversary, right?"

They were in May. It wasn't their marriage's anniversary – their formal marriage had happened in December, and the ceremony had happened in September. She couldn't think of anything else, but Naruto could pull dates out of nowhere and say it was their anniversary. "Anniversary of what, exactly?"

She flinched when he poked her ribs. "Our first time together. The night we conceived Yukio and Yuraku. You don't remember?" he poked her again.

"How could I forget?" she hummed, though the date had definitely not crossed her mind. Naruto caught her half lie.

"That's fine. I'm here to remind you. So, let's celebrate?" a smile curved her lips, and she cuddled against Naruto when he pulled her into his arms. He whispered against her ear, "I've always wanted to try it under sea water, to see if it feels different from the river."

"It will be kind of hard to have alone time on the beach." she pointed out.

"Tonight. How about? We leave clones sleeping with the children." he poked he again and this time she squirmed, as it tickled her.

"I'll think about it." she hummed, but it was teasing more than anything else.

"Can I seduce you?" he whispered against her ear.

"You can try. I doubt you will succeed."

"Oh, I'll take that as a challenge! You'll regret it."

She doubted she would.

"You'll be begging me in the end." he continued. She snorted at his words. "I'm the master of seduction."

"Shush. Enjoy the sun, and the sound of our babies' laughers." she placed a finger on his lips, and quickly took it back when he tried to wrap his lips around it.

He leaned in and kissed her neck. "Did I tell you today that I love you?"

"This may be the eighth time." she said a random number.

"I love you." he lightly bit her neck. She chuckled, tickled by his breath. "I love you. Here, now you have the perfect number ten."

"I have no idea why, but I love you too." she teased him with a smile. She could think of several reasons why she loved Naruto. It had been such a huge stroke of luck on her part that they had gotten together.

She could thank her brother for that, in part.

"I know why you love me. What's there not to love about me?" he teased her back.

"I might need a little alcohol to remember exactly why I love you." she said after he tried to tickle her, when she didn't respond at first.

"Yes, please. I love the way you look when you're plastered." Naruto whispered against her ear. She frowned.

"The way I look? Do I look any different?" she wondered. She had gotten drunk maybe three times in her life. The first time she had slept with Naruto, then twice more, while celebrating their marriage, which had also ended up with them in bed.

"Drink with me, if you would like to find out." she was really curious now.

Naruto knew how to play her like a flute. He was probably lying just to entice her. So, that was how he intended to seduce her. "Nice try. But you won't get me that way."

Naruto only grinned, and this time he went silent and allowed her to relax inside his arms.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

The sequel is already out. You can find it on my profile under the name "Happily Ever After".

It takes off right where this left off, while the twins are still babies. The main reason why I broke this story in three was that each part go at different paces and have different genres. That's why you might find a few unanswered questions, they will be answered in the sequel.

Hopefully, other than the Uzushio incident and the mysterious doctor, all other questions are answered. If they're not, I'd appreciate the feedback, so I can correct it!


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